Video Game Platform Roblox to Make Wall Street Debut

Online gaming service Roblox. Lionel Bonaventure | AFP | Getty Images
Online gaming service Roblox. Lionel Bonaventure | AFP | Getty Images
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Video Game Platform Roblox to Make Wall Street Debut

Online gaming service Roblox. Lionel Bonaventure | AFP | Getty Images
Online gaming service Roblox. Lionel Bonaventure | AFP | Getty Images

Gaming platform Roblox -- which has skyrocketed in popularity among kids and teens during the coronavirus pandemic -- will make its Wall Street debut Wednesday as a direct listing.

The company's shares will be listed under the symbol RBLX on the New York Stock Exchange.

By opting to go public as a direct listing, like companies such as Spotify, Slack and Palantir have done, Roblox will not be able to issue new shares on the exchange and therefore will not raise capital.

Instead existing shareholders -- such as founders, employees and initial investors -- will be able to sell their portions on the market.

The company plans to sell nearly 199 million shares.

The NYSE set a reference price of $45 per share on Tuesday, though the real price will depend on demand.

Roblox was valued at $29.5 billion at a fundraising round in late January.

The platform allows users to create their own video games and gives them a share of related revenue.

It counted close to 33 million daily players in 2020, and revenue soared 82 percent to $924 million.

But the company is not currently profitable, due to the expenses it incurs on tech infrastructure, data protection and paying game developers.



China’s Huawei Starts Taking Pre-orders for Mate 70 Smartphone

 A Chinese flag flutters near a Huawei store in Shanghai, China September 8, 2023. (Reuters)
A Chinese flag flutters near a Huawei store in Shanghai, China September 8, 2023. (Reuters)
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China’s Huawei Starts Taking Pre-orders for Mate 70 Smartphone

 A Chinese flag flutters near a Huawei store in Shanghai, China September 8, 2023. (Reuters)
A Chinese flag flutters near a Huawei store in Shanghai, China September 8, 2023. (Reuters)

China's Huawei Technologies on Monday announced that it had started taking pre-orders for its Mate 70 smartphone model, in a statement on its official WeChat account.

It will also hold an event for the Mate brand on Nov. 26, it said in a separate statement, where it is expected to unveil its latest smartphone line-up.

The company's online store on Monday started allowing users to reserve the Mate 70 and two pro versions without requiring a deposit. The website did not disclose prices.

Huawei returned to the 5G premium smartphone market last year with its Mate 60 phones that have domestically produced semiconductors.

The phones have been celebrated in China as a triumph over US sanctions that have, since 2019, prevented the company from accessing advanced US chips and other technology.