By Ateev Bhandari
(Reuters) -Black Rock Coffee Bar's revenue rose over 24% in the first half of 2025, the coffee chain disclosed on Monday in its U.S. initial public offering paperwork, aiming to list on the Nasdaq as the IPO markets continue to show strength.
Reuters reported last month that Black Rock Coffee had filed confidentially for an IPO in New York that could value the cafe chain at more than $1 billion.
Launched in 2008 by Jeff Hernandez and Daniel Brand, Black Rock Coffee has remained founder-owned,
a strategy employed by entrepreneurs to maximize operational autonomy and minimize dilution.
As of June 30, it operated 158 locations across seven U.S. states including Oregon — also the founding place of Dutch Bros, a drive-through coffee chain that listed on the NYSE in 2021 at a more than $5-billion valuation.
U.S. IPOs have resumed a long-awaited recovery buoyed by successful debuts of several high-profile companies in recent months.
While the majority of eye-popping debuts have come from tech-heavy companies like design firm Figma and stablecoin heavyweight Circle, Black Rock Coffee's IPO could prove to be a litmus test for investor perception of consumer-oriented companies.
"Underwriters have done a great job with names like Circle and Figma — setting valuations low enough to spark heavy bidding," said Jeff Zell, senior research analyst at IPO Boutique.
Coffee is also more sensitive to supply chain disruption from tariffs, uncertainty around which scuttled all dealmaking in April.
Localized experience and hospitality have enabled boutique coffee chains such as Black Rock Coffe Bar to eat into market share of behemoths like Starbucks.
This helped Black Rock Coffee's revenue rise to $95.2 million for the six months ended June 30, compared to $76.7 million a year ago.
Net loss attributable to the company narrowed to $1.9 million from $2.3 million during the period.
J.P. Morgan, Jefferies, Morgan Stanley and Baird are the lead underwriters for the offering. Black Rock aims to list on the Nasdaq under the "BRCB" symbol.
Terms of the offering were not disclosed.
(Reporting by Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona and Shreya Biswas)
