Bending Spoons defies SaaS slump, surges 40% on first day of trading

Bending Spoons, the Milan-based company that acquires and revitalizes aging tech brands, saw its shares surge nearly 40% in its market debut Wednesday, defying a broader slump in SaaS stocks, TechCrunch reported. The stock closed at $40.50, compared with an IPO price of $29, giving the 13-year-old company a market capitalization of $25.7 billion, more than double its last private valuation of $11 billion. Bending Spoons raised $1.68 billion in its offering. The company has grown by acquiring once-popular brands including AOL, Eventbrite, Evernote, Meetup, and Vimeo and turning them profitable through aggressive cost-cutting, new features, and price increases. Unlike a traditional private equity approach, Bending Spoons has no plans to sell those businesses. Bending Spoons reported $601 million in revenue for the first quarter of 2026, generating $27.4 million in net income. That compares with a $112 million net loss on $259 million in revenue in the same period a year earlier, according to an SEC filing. Subscriptions accounted for 84% of the company's revenue last year. Among outside shareholders, Baillie Gifford was the largest before the offering, followed by Renaissance Partners, Cox Enterprises, Durable Capital Partners, Fidelity, and T. Rowe Price. The IPO also represents a significant windfall for the company's five co-founders: Luca Ferrari, Francesco Patarnello, Matteo Danieli, Luca Querella, and Tomasz Greber.