What's going on?

Lemonade reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings late on Tuesday, but all this success might’ve gone straight to the insurance technology firm�s head.

What does this mean?

This was only Lemonade�s second earnings update since its successful stock market debut in July, and the �insurtech� came out swinging with profit and sales that beat analysts� expectations. That�s down to strong growth in customer numbers, which bumped up the money it made from yearly premiums. The company�s feeling positive about what comes next too, delivering a more appealing outlook for the rest of the year than its previous update. All that, and Lemonade�s shares still fell flat with investors.

Why should I care?

For markets: From lockdowns to lockups.

The drop in Lemonade�s share price might have something to do with the impending expiry of the insurtech�s �lockup� � the period of time following an initial public offering (IPO) when employees and early investors are prohibited from selling their shares. A lockup’s a good way for a company to make sure the stock market isn�t flooded with too many shares the moment it lists, but it does have to expire eventually � usually after 90 to 180 days. And when it does, the sudden surge in shares typically causes a stock to fall by as much as 3%…

The bigger picture: Go, Europe, go.�

Despite all the turmoil, 2020�s been quite the year for IPOs: last quarter was the busiest in 20 years, in fact (tweet this). But that�s been truer of places like the US and China than it has Europe � especially when it comes to tech listings. Research firm McKinsey reckons that�s either down to difficulties with raising funds or the region�s less favorable rules around employee stock options, which are typically used to attract top talent. Still, with a teeming pipeline of potential European tech IPOs just waiting to blow, the race might not be over yet.