Astera Shares Soar Following IPO

Shares of Astera Labs closed up more than 72% on Wednesday, after the company raised $713 million in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq that priced well above the projected range.

Santa Clara, California-based Astera, a developer of data center connectivity technology with use cases in generative AI, priced shares at $36 each late Tuesday — above the already upwardly revised range of $32 to $34 — and opened at $52.56 each.

The offering represents one of the largest technology debuts in months.

Astera itself sold 16.8 million shares in the offering, while existing shareholders sold 3 million.

Shares closed at $62.03 on Wednesday, giving the company a market capitalization of around $10 billion. The company is trading under the symbol ALAB.

The well-received offering comes amid a period of great investor interest in artificial intelligence technology. Although Astera isn’t a generative AI company, it pitched itself as a provider of key enabling technology. In its IPO prospectus mission statement, it calls itself a provider of “semiconductor-based connectivity solutions that are purpose-built to unleash the full potential of cloud and AI infrastructure.”

The IPO also follows a period of sharp revenue growth. For 2023, Astera reported revenue of $116 million, up 45% from the prior year.

However, the company is not yet profitable. For 2023, Astera posted a net loss of $26 million, down from $58 million a year earlier.

Founded in 2017, Astera raised $206 million in known venture funding, including a $150 million Series D in late 2022. Its largest shareholders are Sutter Hill Ventures and Fidelity, with 13.7% and 7% stakes, respectively.