Brown’s Bold Bet on StubHub: A Tale of Shares and Specters

What happened

Lo! A parchment, sealed with the sigil of the Securities and Exchange Commission, arrived on November 5, 2025, bearing the curious revelation that Brown University, that venerable bastion of erudition, had acquired a new equity position in the enigmatic entity known as StubHub (STUB +5.90%). The sum: 2,062,425 shares, a sum of $34.73 million, as if counting coins in a tavern’s dimly lit cellar.

This addition, a veritable mountain in the landscape of its portfolio, constitutes 20.54% of Brown’s $169.07 million in reportable U.S. equity holdings as of September 30, 2025. A curious alchemy, indeed, where academia and the market’s caprices intertwine.

What else to know

The new position, a gilded thread in the tapestry of Brown’s 13F assets under management, now weaves 20.54% of its fiscal destiny into the fabric of StubHub’s fortunes.

The top five holdings, a pantheon of financial deities, stand thus:

OBDC: $55.53 million (32.8% of AUM as of September 30, 2025)
OWL: $43.51 million (25.7% of AUM as of September 30, 2025)
STUB: $34.73 million (20.5% of AUM as of September 30, 2025)
GLD: $14.04 million (8.3% of AUM as of September 30, 2025)
IBIT: $13.81 million (8.17% of AUM as of September 30, 2025)

StubHub, that digital bazaar of tickets, reported revenue of $1.80 billion and a net loss of $54.83 million for the twelve months ended June 30, 2025. A paradoxical triumph, where the ledger’s ink dries in sorrow.

The company’s price-to-sales ratio, 3.40, and its price, 38.76% below its 52-week high as of November 4, 2025, whisper of a market both fickle and feverish.

Company Overview

Metric	Value
Price (as of market close 2025-11-04)	$17.12
Market Capitalization	$6.67 billion
Revenue (TTM)	$1.80 billion
Net Income (TTM)	($54.83 million)

Company Snapshot

StubHub, that global online marketplace, serves as a bazaar for secondary ticket sales, where the clamor of sports, concerts, and theater echoes through its digital halls.
Its revenue flows from transaction fees, those silent tolls paid by buyers and sellers in the grand agora of event tickets.
Its clientele, a mosaic of individuals and organizations, spans over 200 nations, a testament to its reach.

StubHub, that leading technology company, specializes in the resale of event tickets, its digital marketplace a labyrinth connecting buyers and sellers across the globe. Its competitive edge, a blend of global reach and a brand so entrenched it seems carved into the very soil of ticketing.

Foolish take

Consider the case of Brown University, that esteemed institution of learning, which chose to invest in StubHub. A decision as perplexing as a bureaucrat drafting a decree in a language of his own invention. The stock, one of eight holdings, suggests a selectivity as narrow as a monk’s gaze during prayer.

This purchase, the university’s first stake in StubHub, coincided with its IPO on Sept. 16. A substantial move, elevating StubHub to the rank of Brown’s third-largest holding. A sign, perhaps, that the university discerns a glimmer of promise in this newly public entity.

Yet, the IPO’s recency shrouds StubHub in mystery. Revenue has grown annually since 2022, a steady climb, though its net loss for the first half of 2025, $76 million, dwarfs the $24 million loss of the prior year. A crescendo of losses, as if the company’s finances were a symphony played on a broken instrument.

With $2.4 billion in debt and $1.2 billion in cash, StubHub teeters on a precipice, a ship adrift in a sea of numbers. Its stock, a shadow of the $27.89 it touched post-IPO, now a ghost of its former self.

To buy or not to buy? A question as old as the market itself. Perhaps wait for the third-quarter results, due Nov. 13, and let the numbers speak in their own cryptic tongue.

Glossary

13F assets under management: A ledger of U.S. equity holdings, as if the market itself were a scribe recording its secrets.
Equity position: A stake in a company, like a shadow cast by a distant sun.
Net position change: The difference between what was held and what is held now, a riddle of numbers.
Trailing twelve months (TTM): A period ending with the most recent quarterly report, like a clock’s hands caught mid-tick.
Forward price-to-earnings ratio: A measure of future hope, not past reality.
52-week high: The summit of a year’s climb, now a distant memory.
Transaction fees: Charges levied by platforms, like tolls on a highway of commerce.
Secondary ticket sales: The resale of tickets, a dance of second chances.
Alpha: A measure of performance, like a ghost in the machine.

And so, the tale concludes, not with a bang, but with a whisper of numbers and the faint echo of a university’s curious choice. 📉

2025-11-06 07:25