Why Slack's IPO Investor Sentiment Might Be A Good Omen

Slack Technologies Inc WORK hit the ground running on Thursday following its highly anticipated IPO. Tech companies have had mixed returns when it comes to big-name IPOs in 2019.

Here’s a look at how Slack’s performance and investor sentiment from data provided by StockTwits compares to other big names.

Slack Sentiment

Slack priced its IPO reference point at $26 per share and ended up opening at $38.50. The stock closed its first day of trading at $38.70. Not surprisingly, bullish sentiment related to Slack on StockTwits was as high as 80% at around noon on Thursday and stayed at that level through the close of trading.

Slack picked an excellent day to go public, as the S&P 500 also hit new all-time highs. However, bullish sentiment for Slack outpaced bullish sentiment for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY at just 62%.

How It Compares

Other Silicon Valley unicorns debuting on the market this year have had mixed early returns, but none have had a higher level of bullish sentiment on their IPO day than Slack.

Lyft Inc LYFT priced its IPO at $72 back on April 1. On its first day of trading, the stock gained 8.7%, closing at $78.29. However, bullish sentiment on StockTwits on the afternoon of the Lyft IPO was just 22%, foreshadowing what was to come. In the nearly three months that followed, Lyft shares are down 12.7% from the stock’s IPO price.

Uber Technologies Inc UBER priced its IPO at $45 back on May 9. On its first day of trading, the stock fell 7.6% to $41.57. Bullish sentiment on Uber’s first day of trading was 57%. In roughly six weeks of trading, Uber is now priced at $43.86, still 2.6% below its IPO price.

Big Winners

Pinterest Inc PINS has fared best of all among the group of tech unicorns. Pinterest priced its IPO at $19 per share on April 17. The stock jumped 28.4% on its first day of trading, closing at $24.40. Bullish sentiment on its first day of trading was 72%. After about two months, the stock is now priced at $27.54, up 44.9% from its IPO price.

The best-performing IPO of 2019 by a wide margin isn’t a tech stock. Beyond Meat Inc BYND priced its IPO at $25 per share back on May 1. The stock soared 163% on its first day of trading and is now trading more than 500% from its IPO price. Investors were extremely bullish from the start, with Beyond Meat’s day-one bullish sentiment at 65%.

If day-one sentiment is any indication, Slack’s hit start could continue in the weeks ahead, much like Pinterest and Beyond Meat’s bullish momentum did.

Slack traded around $37.38 per share at time of publication.

Related Links:

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Photo courtesy of Slack.