Snapchat surges 44% in first trading day

Thu, Mar 2, 2017, 8:03 AM

Snapchat parent company Snap Inc. (SNAP) rose 44% on its first day of trading.

Shares of the ephemeral messaging company opened for trade at $24 per share near 11:25 a.m. ET on Thursday, about 40% above the $17 per share the stock priced at Wednesday night.

The stock eventually settled at $24.48, a 44% pop from where the stock initially priced. The company now has a market value of about $28 billion.

On Wednesday night, the company priced its 200 million share offering at $17 per share, above the $14-$16 range it had been shooting for during its IPO roadshow.

Yahoo Finance’s Jared Blikre reported Thursday morning that Morgan Stanley said two days ago it expected to retain the majority of its allotted shares, leaving even less supply to float on the secondary market.

Traders Blikre spoke to on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday morning said that, as a result, they expected Snap to initially trade closer to $20-$22 per share. This estimate ended up being low.

Reports on Wednesday indicated the offering was 10-times oversubscribed, meaning there was excess demand relative to the amount of stock being offered.

Snapchat co-founders Bobby Murphy, left, and CEO Evan Spiegel, ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange while Thomas Farley, right, president of the Exchange, cheers on the crowd, as the company celebrates its IPO, Thursday, March 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Despite the investor enthusiasm for the company at its debut, two issues have gotten more play in recent days: Snap’s rising costs per user and its lack of voting rights.

As we highlighted on Wednesday, Snap’s cost of revenue per user has been rising, and its cost of revenue exceeds that of Facebook (FB) and Twitter (TWTR) at their debuts, according to an analysis from Ben Thompson at Stratechery.

This has led to some concerns about whether the company — which reported revenues of $404 million with losses of $515 million in 2016 — will in any sort of time frame achieve profitability. As of the end of 2016, the company had 158 million daily active users.

The lack of voting rights for shareholders has also been criticized by some in markets who this as a step backwards for corporate governance. Alternatively, the excitement around the debut indicates there is desire, at least by some investors, to take a bet on Snap’s 26-year-old CEO Evan Spiegel.