教科书租赁公司Chegg Inc.今日提交了1.5亿美元的首次公开募股申请。Chegg预计，公司将于下个月上市，且市值将超过近几轮风投融资过程中所给出的8亿美元的估值。

    Chegg计划于纽交所挂牌交易，股票代码CHGG，摩根大通（J.P. Morgan）(JPM)和美银美林（BoA Merrill Lynch）(BAC)将担任主承销商。

    很明显，公司的注册声明中含有大量的信息，但有两点尤为引人注目：

    1. 上半年增长情况：Chegg2010-2012年的财务状况实在是不尽人意。亏损的速度超过了营收，息税折旧摊销前利润继续下滑。然而，在了解公司2013年上半年业绩之后，人们就会知道Chegg为什么会等到如今才决定上市。

    2013年上半年，这家公司息税折旧摊销前利润为179.6亿美元，而2012年同期只有21.5亿美元。营收增长了26%（增加近1.17亿美元），而亏损降低了34%（3,200万美元对比2,100万美元）。同时，请注意，其中还包含了第二季度——这个往往是公司业绩增长最慢的季度，因为学生们很少会在4-6月期间物色新的教科书。

    2. 数字化？Chegg一直在强调教科书进一步数字化的风险，尤其是出版商开始为电子工具提供更大折扣时的风险。因此，为了未雨绸缪，这家公司已经开始提供大量的数字产品，包括电子教科书、在线/移动家庭作业帮助和学院和大学招生营销服务。Chegg表示，所有这些数字服务占2013年上半年营收的20%，而2012年占比为13%。

    不幸的是，它并没有提到具体的数额细分，包括这些产品的运营成本以及同类对比信息。我觉得潜在投资者希望看到这些数据，因为公司产品的最终方向不大可能是纸质教科书。（财富中文网）  

    Textbook rental company Chegg Inc. today filed for a $150 million IPO, with expectations that it will list next month at a premium to the $800 million valuation it received in its latter rounds of venture capital funding.

    Chegg plans to trade on the NYSE under ticker symbol CHGG, with J.P. Morgan (JPM) and BoA Merrill Lynch (BAC) serving as lead underwriters.

    Obviously there is lots of data in the company's registration statement, but two things jumped out in particular:

    1. First half growth: If you look at Chegg's financials between 2010 and 2012, it's fairly uninspiring. Losses expanded at a faster clip than did revenue, and EBITDA kept slipping. But then comes the first half results for 2013, and you can understand why Chegg chose to wait until now to go public.

    The company reports $17.96 million in EBITDA for the first half of 2013, compared to just $2.15 million for the first half of 2012. Revenue grew by 26% (up to nearly $117 million), while losses decreased by 34% ($32 million vs. $21 million). And, remember, all of this includes Q2 -- typically the company's slowest quarter, since students are rarely seeking new textbooks between April and June.

    2. Digital? Chegg spends a lot of time talking about the risks of further textbook digitization, particularly if publishers begin offering deeper discounts for their electronic wares. And the company is trying to combat that future via a slew of digital offerings, including e-textbooks, online/mobile homework help and enrollment marketing services for colleges and universities. All together, Chegg says these digital services made up 20% of first half 2013 revenue, compared to 13% in 2012.

    Unfortunately, there isn't a more detailed quantitative breakdown. No info on operating costs for these products, or how they compare to one another. I'd think prospective investors are going to want such figures, given that the company's ultimate future is unlikely to be print textbooks.