CNBC.com’s MacKenzie Sigalos brings you the day’s top business news headlines. On today’s show, CNBC.com space reporter Michael Sheetz explains which companies are ahead in the commercial space race. Plus, Robinhood officially files to go public on the Nasdaq.
Elon Musk calls rocket launch regulations ‘broken’ after aircraft delays SpaceX launch
SpaceX was seconds away from launching its 20th mission of this year Tuesday when the countdown was halted due to an aircraft entering the launch range, delaying the mission by at least a day.
Elon Musk took to Twitter to voice his frustration about the delay, reiterating prior criticisms he has made about regulations around the business of launching rockets.
“An aircraft entered the ‘keep out zone’, which is unreasonably gigantic,” Musk wrote in a tweet.
“There is simply no way that humanity can become a spacefaring civilization without major regulatory reform. The current regulatory system is broken,” he added.
Krispy Kreme shares rise 23% despite disappointing pricing, opening trade
Krispy Kreme shares closed Thursday up more than 23% despite a disappointing opening trade for the company’s return to the public markets.
On Wednesday night, the doughnut chain priced its initial public offering at $17 per share, well below its planned range of $21 to $24 per share. The stock’s first trade on Thursday afternoon was $16.30 per share, but shares quickly rebounded. When the markets closed, the stock was trading for $21 a share.
The share offering raised $500 million for the company and gave it an implied valuation of $2.7 billion. Krispy Kreme, which also owns Insomnia Cookies, is trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker “DNUT.”
Robinhood has 18 million accounts with $80 billion in assets after rapid growth, IPO filing shows
Robinhood Markets filed for one of the most anticipated initial public offerings of the year on Thursday, revealing rapid growth resulting in 18 million retail clients and more than $80 billion in customer assets.
Unlike many recent IPOs, Robinhood was profitable last year, generating a net income of $7.45 million on net revenue of $959 million in 2020, versus a loss of $107 million on $278 million in 2019, according to Robinhood’s S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
However, the brokerage lost $1.4 billion in the first quarter of 2021 tied to emergency fundraising-related losses during January’s GameStop trading mania. The company generated $522 million in revenue in the first quarter if 2021, up 309% from the $128 million earned in the first quarter of 2020. Options trading accounts for about 38% of revenue while equities and crypto are 25% and 17% of revenues, respectively.
