By Staff Report Friday, June 19th, 2015

San Luis Obispo’s first initial public offering in years for a non-bank company went off without a hitch on June 19 when MindBody raised slightly more than $101 million.

MindBody, which develops software and provides merchant processing for yoga studios and fitness clubs, sold 7.2 million shares of stock at $14 per share late Thursday, June 18. It opened trading at $16.22 per share on Friday morning, with CEO Rick Stollmeyer and others ringing the bell at the Nasdaq market.

The stock, which trades under the symbol MB, closed Friday below the IPO price to $11.56, a drop of about 17.4 percent. Post-IPO trading valued the company at around $590 million in market capitalization.

MindBody’s early losses on the Nasdaq may signal a worrisome trend for investors. After all, MindBody has a history of losses.

The company lost $16.2 million and $24.6 million in 2013 and 2014 respectively. This year, MindBody lost $7.9 million in the first quarter alone. Because of that, the biggest question hanging over MindBody as it starts trading is whether it will be able to overcome those losses.

Investors are betting the company will use $100 million in newly raised capital to make investments that will reverse years of increased losses as it built out its network to reach customers around the world and offer new cloud-based services that the company can deploy to promote employee wellness.

The company believes it’s well positioned for future growth. It has an app that facilitates sales and appointments between customers and small gyms.

“We believe consumers are increasingly seeking more personalized and effective wellness experiences and are opting for smaller businesses that are more conveniently located and cater to individual needs and preferences,” the company said in its most recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

MindBody’s explosive growth in recent years has made it a major employer in the San Luis Obispo area, where it has built a new headquarters near the city’s airport.

Yearly revenues increased for MindBody by 34 percent in 2013 from $32 million in 2012 to almost $48.7 million in 2013. Revenues also increased last year by 30 percent in 2014 to $70 million.

MindBody also saw quarterly revenues rise 30 percent in the first quarter of 2015 from $15.7 million last year to $22.3 million this year.

Still, the company acknowledged in its most recent SEC filing that it may not be able to become profitable.

“We have a history of losses, and our revenue growth rate may not sustain the levels experienced in recent years,” Mindbody said. “As our costs increase, we may not be able to generate sufficient revenue to achieve and sustain profitability.”

Investment research firm Zacks is lukewarm on MindBody, saying that the company is faced with dwindling cash reserves and hopes that its IPO will give it cash to grow.

“While the market for management software solutions for wellness business is slated to grow 17 percent between this year and 2018, it is unclear if Mindbody will be able to take advantage,” Zacks said.

Zacks did offer some optimism about the future for MindBody.

“If the company can fix its profitability issues and tap into the substantial growth of its industry over the next few years, this company’s stock will definitely be one to watch for investors.”