If you’re sick of tech companies hogging the IPO spotlight, you’re in for a refreshing change of pace. Black Rock Coffee Bar Inc. is expected to list on the Nasdaq as soon as next week. Here’s what you need to know about Black Rock Coffee Bar and its initial public offering.
What is Black Rock Coffee Bar?
Black Rock Coffee Bar is based in Scottsdale, Arizona, but was originally founded in Beaverton, Oregon, in 2008. The company’s first store was a humble 160-square-foot drive-thru location.
Since then, Black Rock Coffee Bar has expanded to more than 150 stores across seven states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.
Black Rock Coffee Bar’s menu consists of coffees, teas, and energy drinks, as well as a selection of all-day breakfast menu items. Its major competitors are the much larger coffee chains Starbucks and Dutch Bros.
One of Black Rock Coffee Bar’s current weaknesses also leaves room for growth opportunities.
In a recent Form S-1 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company notes that its current brand awareness within its existing markets stands at just 47%. That’s compared to the 83% brand awareness that Dutch Bros enjoys and the sky-high 97% brand awareness that Starbucks enjoys.
Black Rock Coffee Bar says it is leveraging several types of marketing to increase its brand awareness, including via online advertising on platforms owned by Meta and Google, and through organically driven influencer marketing campaigns.
The company also has plans to greatly expand its store footprint into new markets. It says it expects to grow its store count to 1,000 stores by 2035. For comparison, Dutch Bros hit that milestone earlier this year.
Black Rock Coffee Bar by the numbers
According to the company’s SEC filing, Black Rock Coffee Bar’s most salient metrics include:
- 158 locations across 7 states.
- Store revenue of $179 million for the 12 months ending June 30, 2025.
- 1.8 million loyalty members.
- 10.1% same-store sales growth for the six-month period ending June 30, 2025.
- Average unit volume of $1.2 million for the three months ending June 30, 2025.
- Annual store growth rate of 20%.
For the three months ending June 30, Black Rock Coffee Bar had a net loss of $1.1 million, its SEC filing reveals. That is double the net loss of $522,000 from the same period a year earlier.
When is Black Rock Coffee Bar’s IPO?
Black Rock Coffee Bar has not officially announced a date for its initial public offering. However, Nasdaq’s IPO calendar listing date says the offering is expected to take place on Friday, September 12.
Fast Company has reached out to Black Rock Coffee Bar for more details on the timeline.
What is Black Rock Coffee Bar’s stock ticker?
Black Rock Coffee Bar’s stock will trade under the ticker “BRCB.”
What exchange will Black Rock Coffee Bar’s shares trade on?
Black Rock Coffee Bar shares will trade on the Nasdaq Global Market.
What is the IPO share price of BRCB?
According to the company’s most recent Form S-1 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), dated September 2, Black Rock Coffee Bar says it expects BRCB Class A shares to IPO for between $16.00 and $18.00.
How many BRCB shares are available in its IPO?
Black Rock Coffee Bar says it is making 14,705,882 shares of Class A common stock available in its IPO.
How much will Black Rock Coffee Bar raise in its IPO?
With Black Rock Coffee Bar’s offering of 14.7 million shares at $16 to $18 apiece, the company is seeking to raise up to $265 million in its IPO, Reuters notes.
How much is Black Rock Coffee Bar worth?
Black Rock Coffee Bar is on target to be worth about $860.7 million based on its current IPO numbers, reports Reuters.
A change of flavor from the tech-heavy IPO scene
One interesting thing about about Black Rock Coffee Bar’s IPO is the industry in which the company operates.
Most of the major initial public offerings in 2025 have been in the tech sector. Black Rock Coffee Bar’s IPO represents a decided change in flavor compared to 2025’s other headline-grabbing IPOs. So far, those have included listings from Chime, Circle, Figma, eToro, and Bullish.
It will be interesting to see how investors react to such a low-tech initial public offering, as their appetite for Black Rock Coffee Bar could play a significant factor in other consumer-oriented, non-tech companies choosing to go public in the remainder of the year.
The last major coffee chain to go public was Dutch Bros (NYSE: BROS) in September 2021. The company debuted on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for $23 per share.
As of yesterday’s market close, BROS shares were trading at above $71 each—a rise of more than 120% since its IPO date.
