Founder Of Asana Plans To Purchase A Large Amount Of Stock

After creator, chairman, and CEO Dustin Moskovitz announced plans to purchase up to 30 million shares of Asana ASAN +1.83%'s Class A common stock, the project management software company's shares were trading higher late on Wednesday.

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At the present rate, that commitment would be close to $700 million.

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Shares of Asana (ticker: ASAN) rose 29% to $23 as a result of the news.

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Moskovitz will purchase the stock through a structured trading plan, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, with purchases scheduled to take place between June 8 and December 29 of this year.

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On the company's results call with analysts on Wednesday, Moskovitz expressed his opinion that Asana's shares are now undervalued.

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Moskovitz already owns a sizable amount of Asana stock; as of September, he owned 58.3% of the firm, or the equivalent of 112.5 million Class A shares. According to the company's securities filings, Asana owns 127.3 million Class A shares and 85.5 million supervoting Class B shares. Last year, Moskovitz gave the business $350 million in exchange for Asana shares through a private placement.

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As part of a similar organized trading scheme to the one disclosed today, Moskovitz spent well over $1 billion on a buying frenzy in 2022 to increase his holdings in the company's stock.

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Moskovitz, according to Trade Algo, has a net worth of $8.8 billion, the majority of which is attributable to an estimated 2% share in Facebook parent company Meta Platforms (FB). In 2004, Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, Eduardo Saverin, and Mark Zuckerberg co-founded Facebook. Before leaving in 2008 to create Asana with Justin Rosenstein, a Facebook engineer at the time, he served as the business's first chief technology officer.

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Asana reported sales of $150.2 million for the fourth quarter that concluded on January 31, up 34% from the same period last year. The company reported a 15 cent per share loss on an adjusted basis. Street consensus forecasts had predicted $145 million in revenue and a loss of 17 cents per share. The business lost $95 million, or 44 cents per share, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The total income increased by 45% to $547.2 million.

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Asana anticipates $150 million to $151 million in revenue and a non-GAAP loss of 18 to 19 cents per share for the first quarter of its fiscal year. Market expectations called for a loss of 23 cents and $150 million. Asana anticipates sales of $638 million to $648 million, up 17% to 18%, and a non-GAAP loss of 55 to 59 cents per share for the fiscal year ending January 2024. Street forecasts had predicted $646 million in revenue and a loss of 80 cents per share.