Toast Inc. (NYSE:TOST) opens for trading at $65.26 after the company's IPO was priced at $40 per share, which was up from the original range of $30 to $33. Shares of Toast have traded as high as $65.99 in the early going.
The restaurant tech company was serving more than 48K restaurant locations at the end of June, compared to about 27K locations in 2019.
Toast lists Square (NYSE:SQ), Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) and Heartland Payment Systems among its competitors for restaurant payments services, although its value-add proposition to the industry makes it a clear niche player. Looking ahead, the question for investors will be if they value TOST with a software stock multiple (so far yes) or if the upside will be limited by the restaurant industry dynamics.