Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN, ETR:AMZ) is set to benefit from a stellar stock market debut by Astera Labs, the new AI-linked tech IPO that was sealed on Wednesday.
The seller of data centre connectivity chips for AI and cloud firms, Astera Labs soared 72% on its first day of trading, closing at US$62.03 per share with a market capitalisation of US$9.5 billion.
Astera Labs works with AI giants like Nvidia, AMD and Intel as well as early backer Amazon.
In 2022, the e-commerce giant agreed to a deal with Astera - and as part of that deal it secured warrants to purchase some 1.5 million shares at US$20.34 each.
One year later, this deal was rejigged further to give Amazon the right to buy another 830,000 shares.
As of the end of 2023, Amazon held more than 232,500 shares in Astera and, including warrants, its interest in the company is worth around US$144 million based on Wednesday’s closing price.
Amazon is required to purchase up to US$650 million of Astera stock in the coming years in order vest the rest of its interest in the company, according to the agreement between the firms.