Technology listings---Partying like it’s 1999

Initial public offerings?are back in Silicon Valley?amid the pandemic, after a fashion

經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人8月刊

THE IPO is dead, long live the IPO. When the pandemic hit in March, initial public offerings, particularly those by technology startups, were predicted to be among the early victims. After all, who wants to go public in a once-in-a-century crisis?

IPO：initial public offering 首次公開募股

Silicon Valley：硅谷??Startup：這里這新公司、初創(chuàng)公司

after a fashion：adv，勉強，不太好·I can play the piano, after a fashion. 我會彈鋼琴，不過馬馬虎虎。

Quite a few people, it turns out. In the past couple of months ipos, which all but?dried up until late May, have come back with a?vengeance in America. None of Silicon Valley’s recent and upcoming listings?rivals that of Ant Group. The payments affiliate of Alibaba, an online giant, wants to raise a record $30bn in China by October, which could value the firm at around $200bn. But America’s technology startups have brought in $10bn so far this year (see chart 1)—and there is more to come. On August 19th Airbnb, which rents homes to travellers, filed for an ipo. Other privately held “unicorns” reportedly ready for?public?pastures?include Snowflake Computing, which makes cloud software; DoorDash, which delivers food; and Instacart, which delivers groceries. Add Palantir, a?cryptic?data-management firm preparing for a direct sale of existing shares in public markets, and the latest combined valuation of these five is $80bn, according to PitchBook, a data provider. Even if they?float only a portion of their shares, billions-worth of fresh tech stocks will soon trade publicly.

vengeance ?n. /?vend??ns/ ?~ (on/upon sb) 報復(fù)；報仇；復(fù)仇? a desire for vengeance 復(fù)仇心? to take vengeance on sb 對某人進(jìn)行報復(fù)

IDIOMS 習(xí)語

1. WITH A ?VENGEANCE?程度更深地；出乎意料地??She set to work with a vengeance. 她加倍努力地工作起來。

Pasture /?pɑ?st??(r)/ ?

1.名詞，?牧場；牧草地；動詞，放牧??an area of permanent/rough/rich pasture 一片永久的╱貧瘠的╱富饒的牧場???high mountain pastures 高山牧場

2.復(fù)數(shù)形式：生活狀況；工作條件；個人發(fā)展的機(jī)遇??I felt we were off to greener pastures (= a better way of life) . 我覺得我們在邁向更好的生活。

public pastures：結(jié)合上下文，是指企業(yè)準(zhǔn)備上市融資。

Ant Group：螞蟻集團(tuán)??阿里巴巴旗下的支付公司（The payments affiliate of Alibaba）

File for：申請，提出申請

Unicorn：獨角獸，在這里指投資界對于10億美元以上估值并創(chuàng)辦時間較短的公司稱謂

Cryptic?/?kr?pt?k/ ?含義隱晦的；晦澀難懂的?? a cryptic message/remark/smile 令人困惑的信息╱話語╱微笑

This flurry of activity has not reached dotcom-bubble territory from the turn of the century, when dozens of startups floated each month. But there is a whiff of “irrational exuberance”?in the air, detects Lise Buyer, who has watched technology stocks since the heady late 1990S and now helps startups with IPOs at Class V Group, an advisory firm. When Duck Creek, an insurance-tech company, went public on August 14th, it closed nearly 50% higher. BigCommerce, an online-shopping platform which floated a week earlier, saw its shares “pop” by more than 200%.

dotcom-bubble territory：網(wǎng)絡(luò)泡沫范圍/領(lǐng)域，dotcom代表網(wǎng)絡(luò)，這里指代本世紀(jì)初的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)泡沫

Whiff?/w?f/ ?

1.~ (of sth) 一點兒氣味；一股氣味??a whiff of cigar smoke 一股雪茄煙味

2.?~ (of sth) ?輕微的跡象（或感覺）；一點點；些許??a whiff of danger 一點點危險

3.( NAmE ) ( ?高爾夫球或棒球 ) 揮空（擊球未中）

動詞：有臭味，揮空（高爾夫或者棒球）

Exuberance??/?ɡ?zju?b?r?ns/ ?快樂有活力的行為?? Her burst of exuberance and her brightness overwhelmed me. ?她的活力勃發(fā)和她的聰明智慧征服了我。

With the S&P 500 index of big American firms at an all-time high, never mind that covid-19 rages on, investors’ rationality?is certainly up for debate. But for many startups, the desire to go public is perfectly rational, for two reasons.

S&P 500 index 標(biāo)準(zhǔn)普爾500指數(shù)，記錄美國500家上市公司的一個股票指數(shù)。

rage /re?d?/ ?

1.?暴怒；狂怒??His face was dark with rage. 他氣得面色鐵青。 ?to be shaking/trembling/speechless with rage 氣憤得發(fā)抖╱戰(zhàn)栗╱說不出話來

2.?( 構(gòu)成復(fù)合詞 ) （某情況引起的）憤怒，暴力行為??a case of trolley rage in the supermarket 超市里一起由手推車引起的暴力事件

3.?~ (at/against/about sb/sth) 發(fā)怒；怒斥??He raged against the injustice of it all. 這一切不公正使他大發(fā)怒火。

4.~ (on) (暴風(fēng)雨、戰(zhàn)斗、爭論等 ) ?猛烈地繼續(xù)；激烈進(jìn)行??The riots raged for three days. 暴亂持續(xù)了三天。

5.[ V?usually + adv./prep. ] ( 疾病、火焰等 ) ?迅速蔓延；快速擴(kuò)散??Forest fires were raging out of control. 森林大火迅速蔓延，失去了控制。

6.?外出玩?zhèn)€痛快；出去作樂

譯文

THE IPO is dead, long live the IPO. When the pandemic hit in March, initial public offerings, particularly those by technology?startups, were predicted to be among the early victims. After all, who wants to go public in a once-in-a-century crisis?

IPO已死，IPO長存。3月份疫情來襲之時，IPO，尤其是科技新創(chuàng)公司的IPO被預(yù)測是最先受打擊的一批。畢竟，誰會在百年一遇的災(zāi)難中上市呢？

Quite a few people, it turns out. In the past couple of months ipos, which all but?dried up?until late May, have come back?with a?vengeance?in America. None of Silicon Valley’s recent and upcoming listings?rivals?that of?Ant Group. The payments affiliate of Alibaba, an online giant, wants to raise a record $30bn in China by October, which could value the firm at around $200bn. But America’s technology startups have brought in $10bn so far this year (see chart 1)—and there is more to come. On August 19th Airbnb, which rents homes to travellers, filed for an ipo. Other privately held “unicorns” reportedly ready for?public?pastures?include Snowflake Computing, which makes cloud software; DoorDash, which delivers food; and?Instacart, which delivers groceries. Add Palantir, a?cryptic?data-management firm preparing for a direct sale of existing shares in public markets, and the latest combined valuation of these five is $80bn, according to PitchBook, a data provider. Even if they?float?only a portion of their shares, billions-worth of fresh tech stocks will soon trade publicly.

然而結(jié)果是不少的人都愿意在這種環(huán)境下上市。在過去的幾個月中，美國的ipo到五月底基本完全銷聲匿跡，但迎來了出乎意料的復(fù)興。當(dāng)然硅谷近期及即將到來的上市公司都不是阿里巴巴旗下的支付公司-螞蟻集團(tuán)的對手。（它是）一家互聯(lián)網(wǎng)巨頭，打算10月份在中國上市，籌集300億美元，意味著公司可能估值到2000億美元。但美國的科技初創(chuàng)公司今年目前已經(jīng)融資100億美元。（參考圖表1），而且還有更多的公司將要融資。8月19日，愛彼迎（airbnb），一家給游客租房的企業(yè)，提出上市申請。其他的獨角獸企業(yè)也準(zhǔn)備上市，包括Snowflake Computing，一家開發(fā)云軟件的公司；DoorDash，餐飲配送企業(yè)；Instacart，日用百貨配送企業(yè)。Add Palantir，一家神秘的數(shù)據(jù)管理公司也準(zhǔn)備將現(xiàn)有股票直接公開出售。根據(jù)數(shù)據(jù)供應(yīng)商PitchBook的估算，這五家企業(yè)最新的估值約800億美元。即使他們僅發(fā)行一小部分他們的股份，幾十億美元的新科技股票將會在公開市場交易。

This flurry of activity has not reached?dotcom-bubble territory?from the turn of the century, when dozens of startups floated each month. But there is a?whiff?of “irrational?exuberance”?in the air, detects Lise Buyer, who has watched technology stocks since the heady late 1990S and now helps startups with IPOs at Class V Group, an advisory firm. When Duck Creek, an insurance-tech company, went public on August 14th, it closed nearly 50% higher. BigCommerce, an online-shopping platform which floated a week earlier, saw its shares “pop” by more than 200%.

這些互聯(lián)網(wǎng)企業(yè)的騷動并沒有達(dá)到本世紀(jì)初互聯(lián)網(wǎng)網(wǎng)絡(luò)泡沫時代的程度，當(dāng)時每月都有好幾打初創(chuàng)企業(yè)上市。但Lisa Buyer追蹤到空氣中有非理性狂熱的跡象，她從90年代末開始關(guān)注科技股，現(xiàn)在在Class V?集團(tuán)，一家咨詢公司，幫助創(chuàng)業(yè)公司上市?？萍急ｋU公司Duck Greek在8月14日上市，當(dāng)日收盤漲了接近50%。線上購物平臺BigCommerce上周發(fā)行一些股份，結(jié)果暴增200%

With the?S&P 500 index?of big American firms at an all-time high, never mind that covid-19 rages on, investors’?rationality?is certainly up for debate. But for many startups, the desire to go public is perfectly rational, for two reasons.

大型美企的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)普爾500指數(shù)居高不下，管它新冠肆虐。當(dāng)然投資者是否理性值得討論，但初創(chuàng)企業(yè)想要上市是理性的，有兩個原因。

未完待續(xù)····