– [Narrator] Unicorns are getting haircuts.
独角兽公司的价值正在下跌
Unicorns are high-flying startups valued at over a billion dollars,
“独角兽公司”是指飞速发展 市值超过十亿的初创公司
but these companies are seeing their valuation shrink when they go public.
但是这些公司发现 他们的价值会在上市（IPO）的过程中缩水
Payment processor Square
支付商Square公司
took a three billion dollar IPO haircut in 2015.
在2015年首次公开发行股票过程中缩水了30亿美元
Cloud computing company Domo
云计算商Domo
took over 1.7 billion dollars off the top in 2018.
在2018年价值缩水了17亿美元
And the latest high-profile haircut
最近一次引起较大关注的市值降低
came this year from the We company.
在今年发生在we公司
WeWork’s parent company got a virtual buzz cut,
We的母公司市值波动
lowering its valuation by 32 billion dollars before the company withdrew its IPO.
使We的估值在撤回IPO申请时降低了32亿美元
Private investors have infused these companies with cash,
个人投资者向这些公司投资
betting they have the potential to corner their markets.
认为他们有垄断市场的潜力
Private valuations have become an accepted yardstick
个人估值已经成为了公认的
for what these companies are worth on the public market.
可以衡量这些公司在公开市场的价值
But many investors believe these valuations
但是许多投资人认为这些估值
often overstate a firm’s likely true worth.
常常高估了一个公司的真实价值
Here’s how that can happen.
接下来解释原因
Private startups seeking investments typically undergo a series of funding rounds,
寻找投资的私营初创公司会经历一系列融资
where investors, usually venture capital and private equity firms,
投资者通常是风险投资公司和私募股权公司
provide cash in exchange for equity in the company.
他们会提供资金以换取公司的股权
Each new round of fund raising
每进行新一轮的融资
sets a new valuation for the company.
公司价值都会被重新估计
These valuations are usually based on several factors,
这些估值通常基于多重因素
including market size, revenue and management.
包括市场规模、营业额及经营管理等
Some investors and analysts contend
一些投资者和分析师认为
that the entire process tends to carry a bias towards higher prices,
这整个过程带有高估企业价值的倾向
because private markets are filled almost exclusively by investors
因为私募市场几乎完全由
who want their stakes to appreciate.
希望自己持有的股票走势良好的投资者占据
What makes private markets different is
使私募市场变得与众不同的是
that they generally aren’t subject to the skepticism
定价通常不会受到怀疑
that’s common in public markets.
而这在公开市场是很常见的
Private funding is fueled by optimism.
乐观的情绪推动着私募基金的发展
Private investors, unlike their public counterparts,
不同于公众投资者
typically are constrained in their ability to sell their stake in the company,
个人投资者出售股票的行为受到限制
and they can’t bet against the stock by selling it short.
他们不能通过卖空股票来押注
There are a number of factors
有很多原因
that often make private market valuations higher.
经常让私募市场估值偏高
One popular way of enticing investors
吸引投资者的一种常用方法
is to offer them preference shares,
是向他们提供优先股
securities that offer perks above and beyond the ownership stake conferred by common stock.
即包含的所有权权益高于普通股的证券
Preference shares are often sold to private-run investors
优先股经常被出售给个人投资者
and are more valuable than the common shares
并且比通过首次公开发行出售的
that are typically sold in an IPO,
普通股更有价值
which helps explain why private market valuations
这有助于解释为什么私募市场估值
often end up higher than public market ones.
往往最终要比公开市场高
One common form of preference stock sold in early funding rounds
一种常在早期融资中出售的优先股
comes with a liquidation preference,
带有优先清算权
which ensures investors can get back whatever they invested,
这确保即使公司以较低的估价出售
even if the company is sold at a lower valuation.
投资者也可以收回自己的投资
A second preference stock feature, known as ratchet,
优先股的第二个特征是附加棘轮条款
means early investors can get additional shares
这意味着早期投资者有权认购更多股票
if the company does an IPO at a lower price
如果公司首次公开发行的价格低于
than the one at which they bought in.
投资者购买优先股的价格
But during a valuation, these higher share classes
但这些优先股的估值
are valued equally to common stock,
与普通股相同
even though they aren’t entitled to the same payoffs,
即使二者带来的收益不同
making common stock appear more valuable than it actually is,
这使得普通股的名义价值比实际价值更高
bloating a company’s valuation.
从而使公司的估值偏高
Square was valued at six billion dollars
Square公司在上市前的最后一轮融资后
after its last round of funding before going public.
估值为60亿美元
But a study found that
但一项研究发现
special promises to late-round investors had inflated this valuation.
Square公司对后期投资者的特别承诺使得这一估值提高
The study calculated Square was actually worth 2.2 billion dollars,
这项研究计算得出Square公司实际上只值22亿美元
close to the 2.6 billion dollar valuation the company received for its IPO.
这一数值接近该公司IPO估值结果——26亿美元
A second reason for high valuations is that
估值偏高的第二个原因
private companies aren’t subject to the strict accounting practices
是私营企业遵守的会计准则
that public companies must use.
较上市公司宽松
They are far freer to present investors with nonstandard data
他们能够更自由地给投资者提供非标准化数据
that paints a rosier picture of their financial health.
使得财务状况看起来更好
The We company presented investors
We公司为投资者提供了
with a metric called “community adjusted EBITDA.”
一个指标——修正的EBITDA
It excluded big expenses,
它排除了一些大笔费用
including some rent costs that would usually be reported
包括一些通常使用
using Generally Accepted Accounting Principals.
GAAP（一般公认会计原则）调整的租金费用
In entering public markets,
在进入公开市场时
companies agree to report standard numbers
公司需要同意报告规定数据
based on rules set by the SEC.
根据证券交易委员会设定的规则
This enables investors to more accurately compare different firms’ finances.
这使投资者能够 更准确地比较不同公司的财务状况
Private market valuations can be a useful data point for investors,
私募市场估值原本是投资者的一个参考
but the rude awakening
但是一些像We这样的公司
that firms like the We company have received at times
IPO价值低于估值的事件
is making many analysts and portfolio managers
正在使许多分析师和投资经理
increasingly skeptical of those big numbers,
越来越怀疑这些庞大的数字
and forcing unicorns to take a little or a lot off the top.
迫使独角兽公司价值轻微甚至严重缩水
(STATEMENT)
[声明] We公司为投资者提供了一个指标——修正的EBITDA 它排除了一些大笔费用 包括一些通常使用GAAP（一般公认会计原则）调整的租金费用。
本视频之前版本错误认为“修正的EBITDA”不计算包括租金费用在内的一些大笔费用