Nutanix Continues to Tease Us with IPO Rumors

A year ago, we started hearing rumors that Nutanix was going to file for an IPO. Then last December, it finally did–only to put off going public until the market stabilized. The hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) provider updated its SEC filing in April, making us all wonder if the IPO time was nigh.

In May, it took at $75 million loan from Goldman Sachs and made a play for the SMB market with a bite-sized version of its enterprise cloud platform, prompting us to say it was priming its position ahead of going public. In August, insiders started reporting that Nutanix was gearing up for its IPO roadshow.

Earlier this month, it acquired Pernix Data and Calm.IO to build a more robust portfolio and make itself even more attractive to potential shareholders. Now this week, the company filed paperwork with the SEC setting the terms for the IPO. Frankly, it’s time to fish or cut bait, because we’re running out of steam to be excited for Nutanix.

The filing outlined Nutanix’s goal of selling 14 million shares at $11 to $13 per share, potentially raising upwards of $168 million. That’s not out of reach for the HCI provider, which leads the pack in technology that combines storage and compute power in one device.

But in the last several years, hardware giants like HP and VMware have put forth their own converged systems. The market is also riddled with other HCI startups like Simplivity and Pivot3. There are a lot more options these days for investors that may be tiring of Nutanix’s teasing.

We once expected Nutanix to be the first tech IPO of 2016, but the uncertain market has caused the company to push back its go-public date again and again. As the IPO landscape has improved, companies like Dell’s SecureWorks and Twilio have made the leap. Maybe that will be enough to calm Nutanix’s nerves.