Why a $127 Million StubHub Bet Now Dominates This Fund's Portfolio Despite a 40% Post-IPO Drop

6 days ago 13

Jonathan Ponciano, The Motley Fool

Sun, December 14, 2025 astatine 1:24 PM CST 5 min read

California-based StepStone Group added astir 7.6 cardinal shares of StubHub during the 3rd quarter.
The presumption accrued successful worth by an estimated $127.3 million.
The presumption present represents astir 59.9% of the fund's reportable assets nether management, making it the largest holding by portfolio weight.
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On November 14, California-based StepStone Group disclosed a caller presumption successful StubHub (NYSE:STUB), acquiring astir 7.6 cardinal shares valued astatine an estimated $127.3 million.

StepStone Group disclosed a caller involvement successful StubHub, purchasing astir 7.6 cardinal shares during the 3rd quarter, arsenic elaborate successful its SEC filing dated November 14. The position, valued astatine $127.3 cardinal arsenic of September 30, represents a important summation to the fund’s U.S. equity holdings.

This caller presumption successful StubHub accounts for 59.9% of StepStone Group LP’s reportable U.S. equity assets arsenic of quarter-end.

Top 5 holdings aft the filing:

NYSE:STUB: $127.3 cardinal (62.7% of AUM)
NYSE:KRMN: $21.1 cardinal (10.4% of AUM)
NYSE:PATH: $17.2 cardinal (8.5% of AUM)
NASDAQ:GENVR: $11.2 cardinal (5.5% of AUM)
NASDAQ:DKNG: $6 cardinal (3% of AUM)

As of Friday, shares of StubHub were priced astatine $13.95, down 40% from their September IPO terms of $23.50 per share.

Metric

Value

Price (as of marketplace adjacent Friday)	$13.95
Market Capitalization	$5.1 billion
Revenue (TTM)	$1.8 billion
Net Income (TTM)	($1.3 billion)

StubHub operates a planetary integer marketplace for secondary summons sales, facilitating transactions for sports, concerts, theater, and unrecorded events crossed much than 200 countries.
The institution generates gross chiefly done transaction fees charged to buyers and sellers for each summons sold connected its platform.
Its superior customers see idiosyncratic summons buyers, event-goers, and summons resellers seeking entree to unrecorded amusement events worldwide.

StubHub is simply a starring exertion level successful the secondary ticketing industry, leveraging its standard and integer infrastructure to link millions of buyers and sellers. The company’s strategy centers connected providing a unafraid and businesslike marketplace for unrecorded lawsuit tickets, supporting a divers scope of lawsuit categories. StubHub’s competitory vantage lies successful its wide planetary scope and established brand, positioning it arsenic a cardinal subordinate successful the planetary lawsuit summons resale market.

StepStone’s determination reflects condemnation successful StubHub’s concern durability contempt its short-term banal performance. Secondary ticketing is cyclical and sentiment-driven, but request for unrecorded events has proven acold much resilient than astir user categories, adjacent arsenic discretionary spending tightens.

StubHub’s latest 4th reinforces that point. Gross merchandise income reached $2.4 billion, up 11% twelvemonth implicit year, oregon 24% excluding the Taylor Swift tour, portion gross roseate 8% to $468 million. Adjusted EBITDA besides climbed, up 21% to $67 million, with margins expanding to 14%, signaling improving operating leverage adjacent amid public-company modulation costs. The header GAAP nonaccomplishment was driven astir wholly by a one-time $1.4 cardinal stock-based compensation complaint tied to the IPO, not underlying concern deterioration.

Equally important for semipermanent holders, StubHub utilized IPO proceeds to trim indebtedness by astir $750 million, bringing nett leverage down to 3.9 times trailing adjusted EBITDA and materially strengthening its equilibrium sheet. Compared with the remainder of the portfolio, this presumption stands retired arsenic a high-conviction stake connected currency travel normalization alternatively than near-term aggregate expansion.