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Firmus withdraws planned Australian stock market listing

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 4 outlets. No right-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered it yet.

8 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

Smartphone screen displaying the green Firmus logo against a blurred blue background.
Image via CNBCHow images are chosenReport this image

Firmus Technologies, an AI datacentre company backed by Nvidia, has withdrawn its planned initial public offering on the Australian Securities Exchange. A Firmus spokesperson said the board decided that proceeding was no longer in the best interests of the company and its shareholders. The company cited recent market volatility and prevailing market conditions, and the offer was reported at about $5 billion. Reports said investor demand had fallen short, and Bloomberg linked the setback to global concerns over frothy AI valuations. Before the withdrawal, sources briefed on the matter told the Guardian that the company was cutting its valuation to attract sceptical investors.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. Firmus Technologies has withdrawn its planned listing on the Australian Securities Exchange.

    Across the spectrumReported byLeft2Center2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian, Bloomberg
    Center
    CNBC, Financial Times

  2. Firmus cited recent market volatility and prevailing market conditions for the withdrawal.

    One side only: the centerReported byCenter2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Center
    CNBC, Financial Times

  3. Firmus said its board judged that proceeding was no longer in the best interests of the company and its shareholders.

    One outletThe Guardian· Left

  4. The offer was reported at about $5 billion and would have been one of Australia’s biggest-ever listings.

    Reported byLeft2Center1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian, Bloomberg
    Center
    Financial Times

  5. Reports said Firmus had failed to attract global investors amid concerns over frothy AI valuations.

    One side only: the leftReported byLeft2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian, Bloomberg

  6. Before the withdrawal, sources briefed on the matter said Firmus was cutting its valuation to attract sceptical investors.

    One outletThe Guardian· Left

What is contested

Where accounts differ

Points the coverage does not agree on, and who says what.

  • The listing was pulled because of market conditions.

    Firmus’s stated reasons, as reported in the supplied coverage, are recent market volatility and prevailing market conditions. Other reports attribute the setback to weak investor demand and to concerns over frothy AI valuations, and say the company was cutting its valuation before withdrawing.

How each side tells it

Compare views

  • the left

    2 outlets

    Left-side headlines frame the event as a collapse or misfire driven by weak investor demand, with “Firmus Misfire” and “IPO Collapses” as examples, and the Guardian’s earlier headline framed it as a valuation coming back down to earth.

    Data Center Darling’s $30 Billion IPO Dream Crushed in 48 Hours
    BloombergLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    2 outlets

    Center-side headlines report the event in the company’s own terms: CNBC writes “withdraws historic IPO, citing market volatility” and the Financial Times writes “pulls $5bn IPO”, with its description repeating the company’s “recent market volatility” explanation.

    Australian data centre operator pulls $5bn IPO
    Financial TimesCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    No coverage yet

    No right-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

  • Left4

    severe cracksominous signmuch-hypedCollapses

  • Center0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Right

    Has not covered this story.

In the outlets’ own words

  • Sensational language

    severe cracksMore neutral: doubts

    The phrase dramatises the reported investor reaction beyond what the sourced reporting establishes.

    The momentum behind Firmus Technologies’ high-flying valuation is showing severe cracks just weeks out from its anticipated ASX debut.

    Used byThe Guardian (Left)

  • Sensational language

    ominous signMore neutral: possible warning sign

    The phrase adds a dark forecast about other listings that the reporting does not establish.

    …of Nvidia Corp.-backed data center company Firmus Grid Ltd.’s Australian IPO is an ominous sign for other proposed listings, coming after a string of disappointing debuts for…

    Used byBloomberg (Left)

  • Loaded modifier

    much-hypedMore neutral: AI data centre

    The word pre-judges the company's business as overpromoted before the facts are established.

    …to be Australia’s biggest company listing in decades after investor demand for its much-hyped AI data centre business failed to materialise.

    Used byThe Guardian (Left)

  • Loaded verb

    CollapsesMore neutral: withdraws

    Collapse implies a sudden failure, while the same withdrawal is described as a pullback or withdrawal elsewhere in the coverage.

    Nvidia-Backed Firmus IPO Collapses

    Used byBloomberg (Left)

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

2 outlets

Leads with

  • investor doubt and weak demand
  • the collapse of a major listing
  • frothy AI valuations as the backdrop
  • the size of the offer next to the Telstra listing in 1997

Leaves out

  • Firmus’s cited reason of recent market volatility, which does not appear in the supplied left-side text

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the 2 headlines from the leftHide the headlines

From the center

2 outlets

Leads with

  • the company’s stated reason of market volatility
  • the $5bn size of the offer
  • Nvidia backing
  • neutral verbs such as withdraws and pulls

Leaves out

  • weak investor demand and the failure to attract buyers
  • sources saying the company was cutting its valuation

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the 2 headlines from the centerHide the headlines

From the right

0 outlets

No right-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    First to report

    The Guardian, Oct 7, 8:57 PM EDT

  • Center

    1 day later

    Its first report, Oct 8, 9:02 PM EDT

  • Right

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. The GuardianLeftOct 7, 8:57 PM EDT
  2. BloombergLeftOct 8, 4:53 PM EDT
  3. CNBCCenterOct 8, 9:02 PM EDT
  4. Financial TimesCenterOct 8, 10:56 PM EDT

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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