Box may delay IPO until June as market strength in doubt

Anonymous sources say secure content sharing company getting cold feet on NYSE

Box may be delaying its initial public offering (IPO) until June, after anonymous sources have suggested that the secure content sharing firm may be having cold feet as to the strength of the tech market.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the slowing growth of cloud technology companies such as Salesforce.com, Netsuite and Workday may have scared Box off from pursuing IPO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which it originally filed for last month.

While Box did not set an actual date for the public offering, it was widely believed to be gearing up for an April launch.

The company has recently been valued at as much as $3bn (£1.8bn), which would make it one of 2014's highest-valued companies at IPO.

But Box's concerns can be understood: Computing reported yesterday on the status of Twitter, which following its IPO in November 2013 is now losing four times as much money as it was a year ago, despite making around double the revenue.

Salesforce.com, meanwhile, posted losses of $116m in January 2014, compared to only $20.8m in the same period the previous year.

Other companies, such as genetic testing firm Ariosa Diagnostics, have been seen quietly lowering their IPO expectations.