Funko Flops As IPO Market Cools Once Again

When pop culture consumer products company Funko Inc FNKO went public, it offered 10.42 million shares at $12 per share. On its Thursday, Nov. 2 debut, the stock opened down at $8 and closed with a loss of 41 percent at $7.07.

It's one of many signs that the IPO market, which many expected to recover in a big way after a lackadaisical 2016, hasn't taken off in 2017, despite the backdrop of a rising market. 

Weak Record In Recent Listings 

Late-stage clinical biopharma company Allena Pharmaceuticals Inc ALNA offered 5.3 million shares in an IPO, priced at $14. The stock opened Nov. 2 at a discount at $12 and traded in a range of $9.77 and $12.40 before ending at $9.98, a loss of 29 percent.

Spero Therapeutics Inc SPRO, another clinical stage biotech company, listed at $13.25 on Nov. 2. The stock ended its debut session at $11.50, an 18 percent drop from an offer price of $14.

Evoqua Water Technologies Corp. AQUA, which priced its IPO at $18, ended its Nov. 2 IPO date at $20.88, up about 16 percent.

The Misses

There were great expectations surrounding Snap Inc SNAP, which went public in early March. The parent of ephemeral photo- and video-sharing platform Snapchat — which was supposed to give Facebook Inc FB a run for its money — unfortunately has not appealed to invesotrs. 

After offering shares at $17 and listing at $24, Snap made a listing gain of 44 percent. The stock is now a pale shadow of its old self, trading below the offer price since early July.

Blue Apron Holdings Inc APRN and Yogaworks Inc YOGA were other names that flopped in a big way. Meal kit delivery service Blue Apron is now trading at $3.80, having come off notably from the $10 at which its shares were offered initially to the public.

Yogaworks is faring badly, as it trades at $2.77 compared to its listing price of $5.55 and the $4.85 at which the stock closed on its debut.

Some Success Tasted

IPO bright spots in 2017 include Roku Inc ROKU, Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Inc RYTM and Switch Inc SWCH.

TV streaming company Roku's IPO was priced at $14. The stock closed its debut trading session at $23.50, a gain of 68 percent.

Biotech company Rhythm IPO-ed Oct. 5, offering shares at $17. The stock made listing gains of over 76 percent before ending at $30.

Switch shares ended up about 23 percent at $20.84 on Oct. 6 versus an offer price of $17. The company offers data center facilities and also provides colocation, telecom, cloud services and content ecosystems.

Although these shares are trading above their IPO prices, they have come off from the highs reached on debut. Roku trades at $19.10, Rhythm at $22.82 and Switch at $18.84.

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