The 180-day lockup period for Pluralsight LLC (PS) ends on November 13, 2018. This date marks the point when the company’s pre-IPO shareholders and insiders may sell large blocks of currently restricted shares in the secondary market. With more than 36 million shares of PS subject to lockup restrictions – and just 20 million shares trading pursuant to the IPO – any significant sales of restricted stock could flood the market and cause a sharp, short-term downturn in share price.
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Trading in Pluralsight has been volatile during this six-month period. PS had a first-day return of 33.3%, and the stock currently has a return from IPO of more than 35%.
Business Overview: Provider of Online IT and Software Development Training
Pluralsight LLC offers online software development and IT training options for software developers worldwide. The company provides its online courses for IT administrators, professional developers, and creative artists. The courses are available for businesses and individuals in addition to the government and academic sectors.
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The company uses its cloud-based platform for technology training with a wide array of tools, including business analytics, learning paths, a library of courses, and skill assessments. This platform is powered by Iris, which is Pluralsight’s proprietary technology using machine learning that enables students to identify and develop desired skills.
The company states in their SEC filing that it has significant opportunity for growth. According to Training Industry, Inc., worldwide spending on corporate training initiatives was approximately $359 billion in 2016. In addition, Evans Data Corporation estimates that technical teams worldwide have approximately 102 million members. Using this data, Pluralsight sees its current potential market at $24 billion.
Pluralsight has seen growth in its users and authors on the Iris platform in recent years. As of December 2017, Iris had over 695,000 users across 150 countries. The content offered over the platform comes from a network of more than 1,400 authors. Currently, Pluralsight has more than 6,700 online and on-demand courses, and they add approximately 80 new courses every month.
