This morning Weibo went public, offering fewer shares than previously expected, though the bloc was priced at $17, in line with yesterday’s reporting.
The company went gangbusters its first day of public trading, spiking 19.06% to $20.24 by the end of the day, likely adding draft winds to other technology companies, social or otherwise, looking to list on the public markets. Given a starting market capitalization of $3.4 billion at its IPO price, Weibo gained $376M in value.
Weibo joins a number of other recent technology IPOs to have big first days. As TechCrunch reported on April 6th of this year: “Friday was a busy day for tech companies on Wall Street, with GrubHub, Five9 and IMS Health going public on the same day. It went well: GrubHub spiked 30.77%, Five9 9.14%, and IMS Health 15%.”
Here’s Weibo’s first day as a public firm:
Gaming giant King Digital has struggled since its public offering. Aerohive, another recent technology IPO, claimed that it saw “deterioration” in the investing market during its roadshow. Box’s losses when it disclosed its finances in its S-1 were larger than expected, causing some to doubt private-market valuations of certain tech sectors.
But Weibo’s IPO is another indication that investors are more than willing to snap up tech shares, provided the growth upside looks firm. Welcome to the club, Weibo. We’ll see you at earnings.
