Baillie Gifford Doubles Down on Bending Spoons With a $1.7 Billion Bet — But Can a Six-Week-Old Stock Justify the Confidence?

Shares of Bending Spoons surged 10% to $48.90 on August 10 after Scotland-based investment giant Baillie Gifford disclosed it had quietly amassed 49.5 million shares at $35.20 apiece — a $1.74 billion wager that hands it a 15.2% stake in the Italian software roll-up barely six weeks after its Nasdaq debut. With mixed broader markets providing no tailwind, the move is entirely company-specific, and it raises a sharp question: Is the stock's post-IPO rally pricing in execution that hasn't happened yet?

• Baillie Gifford Is Not a New Believer — It's a Returning One, at a Much Higher Price. Baillie Gifford first invested in Bending Spoons in August 2023, when it was valued under $1 billion, eventually deploying roughly $192 million across several private funding rounds.

Before the IPO, it was the company's largest outside shareholder.

It sold part of that stake during the July offering , then bought back in on July 31 at $35.20 — a price 21% above the $29 IPO level. The fund is essentially re-entering at a premium, a strong conviction signal. At today's price, its paper gain already tops $680 million.

• The Airtable Deal Adds Revenue but Burns Cash Fast. Bending Spoons agreed on August 4 to buy Airtable for $1.285 billion in cash — its first post-IPO acquisition. Airtable's yearly subscription revenue is approximately $480 million, growing over 20%. That price works out to roughly 2.7 times revenue, a bargain relative to Airtable's $11 billion peak valuation in 2021. But it drains a large chunk of the $1.68 billion raised in the IPO, betting the company can wring higher profits from a business that was already burning through venture capital.

• The Stock Has Climbed 69% Past Its IPO Price in Under Six Weeks. Bending Spoons priced at $29 per share , and today's $48.90 stretches the implied market capitalization to roughly $31 billion. Revenue hit $1.31 billion in 2025 and Q1 2026 showed a net profit of about $28 million on $601 million in revenue. That leaves the stock trading at approximately 24 times annualized sales — rich for a company whose strategy depends on continuously buying and restructuring fading internet brands.

• Institutional Lock-In Cuts Near-Term Selling Risk. Baillie Gifford holds sole power to sell all 49.5 million shares , and a holder this size is unlikely to flip quickly. That effectively removes a large block of stock from circulation, tightening supply and supporting the price — until the fund decides the valuation has run ahead of fundamentals.