Slack direct listing — What to know in markets Thursday

Slack will finally make its public debut Thursday morning on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker “WORK.”

On Wednesday evening, the NYSE set a reference price of $26 per share.

Instead of the traditional initial public offering (IPO) route, Slack has opted for a direct listing. A direct listing helps companies avoid hefty underwriting fees and a lengthy roadshow process. However, that also means the companies are also passing on an opportunity to raise capital ahead of their debut.

Slack’s direct listing is the first since Spotify’s successful debut last year. According to the New York Stock Exchange, Spotify was the fifth largest opening trade on record in the U.S. Thus, investors will be paying close attention to how Slack’s debut goes Thursday morning.

Much like its recent IPO peers, Slack is not yet a profitable company. For the three months ended April 30, the company reported revenue of $134.8 million, up from $80.9 million last year. However, net losses increased to $31.9 million, from $24.9 million last year.

Slack currently boasts about 10 million daily active users (DAU) worldwide, and according to the company, more than half of the DAUs are international.

[Read more: Don’t say ‘IPO’: What to know about Slack’s direct listing]

Meanwhile, on the corporate earnings front, Darden Restaurants (DRI) and Kroger (KR) will report ahead of the opening bell, while Canopy Growth (CGC) and Red Hat (RHT) will report after the market close.

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Heidi Chung is a reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @heidi_chung.

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