The move demonstrates growing business confidence in the US drive-thru coffee segment, where several fast-growing operators are vying for market share
Black Rock Coffee Bar has filed a registration statement for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker symbol ‘BRCB’.
The move comes less than two months after the Arizona-based coffee chain was reported to have confidentially filed for an IPO valuing the business at more than $1bn.
In a press announcement, Black Rock confirmed J.P. Morgan, Jefferies, Morgan Stanley and Baird will act as lead book-running managers for the proposed offering. Stifel and William Blair will act as additional book-running managers, and Raymond James will act as lead manager for the proposed offering.
Black Rock began trading from a 160sq ft drive-thru-only coffee kiosk in Beaverton, Oregon, in 2008. It now operates 158 company-owned stores with drive-thru and seating in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Texas and Washington.
Those stores are supplied by Black Rock’s two coffee roasteries, located in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington.
In a presentation accompanying its IPO, Black Rock disclosed that total half-year revenues grew 24% to $95m during the 12 months to June 30, with 10.1% like-for-like sales growth achieved during the period.
The company’s net loss has also narrowed from $7m at the end of 2024 to $2m during the first half of 2025.
Black Rock, which sells a range of espresso-based beverages, nitro coffee, flavoured coffee and energy drinks, generates 72% of store revenues from drive-thru transactions.
However, the operator is also focused on its coffee shops with seating and is seeking to grow its digital channels, including a loyalty programme, which currently makes up 15% of transactions.
Its latest move to go public demonstrates growing investor confidence in the buoyant US drive-thru coffee market.
World Coffee Portal’s Project Café USA 2025 report shows that 82% of US industry leaders surveyed see plenty of growth potential for branded coffee shops in the country, with 30% citing drive-thru as one of the most important trends influencing the US branded coffee shop market.
Drive-thru is also popular with US coffee shop consumers, with 27% of those surveyed using the format for their most recent coffee shop order and more than half preferring it to entering a coffee shop.
Segment market leader Dutch Bros, which achieved a $5bn valuation when it went public in 2021, has since doubled its store count to exceed 1,040 stores and is one of the fastest-growing coffee chains in the US.
Meanwhile, Nebraska-based Scooter’s Coffee, which operates more than 830 franchised drive-thru outlets, is reportedly considering private equity firm sales that could value the company at $1bn.
Backed by private equity firm Blackstone, Arkansas-based 7 Brew opened more than 150 stores during the nine months to June 2025 and now operates more than 415 drive-thru sites across 34 states.
