Stripe preparation for an IPO is reflected in its stock performance on the private market, and its new CFO and tax service are defining its path to the stock market while enhancing global commerce.

In the bustling world of digital payments, one name that has emerged as a leader is Stripe. This innovative tech company has reshaped the way businesses handle online transactions. With the increasing interest in the company's growth and future prospects, many investors have had their eyes on Stripe's IPO, wondering about the IPO date, and asking the question, "Is Stripe publicly traded?" In this article, we'll explore the journey of Stripe stock from its highly anticipated IPO to becoming a publicly traded entity.

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Stripe CFO: Former Google Cloud and Confluent CFO Heads to Stripe

The transition to a new CFO comes at a time when the digital payments company might be gearing up to go public. Technology industry veteran Steffan Tomlinson will take over as the fintech company’s CFO.

Tomlinson, who currently serves as CFO of software provider Confluent, is headed to Stripe with two decades of corporate finance experience at startups and Fortune 25 companies across the technology landscape — from cloud computing to security and networking, according to a press release. Besides Confluent, he has also worked for Google.

Stripe Launches New Service: Aiding Global Commerce with Tax Tool

Stripe has announced it is offering its Tax tool to its platform clients to boost their global commerce sales. "Help with sales tax and VAT has been our platform users' most commonly requested feature," Michael Carney, product lead for the tool, known as "Stripe Tax," said in a news release on Wednesday (Aug. 2).

"We built Stripe Tax because it's a logical extension of payment processing, and now we've built Tax for platforms so platforms can offer it to their customers and help them with all aspects of the transaction lifecycle."

With Tax for platforms, businesses have an easier time selling across borders, with a no-code solution for complex tax requirements involved in international sales. "The challenge is huge, in large part because the tax landscape is constantly changing: last year there were more than 600 sales tax rule and rate changes in the US alone, and an even larger number of VAT changes in the EU," the release said.

Stripe Tax, introduced in 2021, automatically calculates and collects the correct sales tax, VAT, and GST across more than 40 countries and all U.S. states. The tool also speeds up the filing process through automated, location-specific reporting for each state in the U.S. and provides summarized reports that can be filed in all countries where a business is registered to collect tax.

The Performance of Stripe Stock

Since May, Stripe stock has been on the up, reflecting the inherent better bid of fintech stocks on the public markets. The company's commitment to innovation and its position as a leader in online payment processing have contributed to its stock's overall performance, which has been better than Block, Paypal, Mastercard and Visa

Stripe’s valuation

In mid-2023, Stripe's internal valuation stood at $63 billion. However, the company was reportedly raising fresh capital worth $4 billion from investors at a valuation of around $55 billion, down from its peak of $95 billion in 2021. Rising interest rates in 2022 and 2023 have prompted investors to reassess valuations across the technology sector, impacting Stripe's valuation. Nevertheless, even at a $50 billion valuation, Stripe is trading at a relatively high price, i.e., 3.5 times its 2022 gross revenue, in comparison to PayPal, which trades at about three times its revenue with a current market capitalization of $75 billion.

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