Game engine developer Unity Software ($U) went public on the New York Stock Exchange Friday. The San Francisco-based company's cross-platform gaming engine has fueled a boom in 3D game development, with a focus on mobile games and virtual reality content.
The company offered up 25 million shares and trading began at $75 per share as the market opened, up from its $52 initial listing price. The pop brought the company's market cap as high as $20 billion, closer to big-league game developers such as EA and Nintendo, although share price edged lower to $68 by the close of the trading day.
Unity says it isn't looking to be pigeon-holed in the gaming industry. As investors scramble to put money into tech stocks, the company is making the case that it spans multiple industries.
"We are in the gaming industry, but we're also in a lot of other industries," CFO Kimberly Jabal told Cheddar. "We have empowered creators. We've democratized game development, but we're not actually a gaming company. We're a technology company."
Jabal said Unity is creating solutions for all types of real-time 3D developers, not just gamers.
"We help them to design and to build their applications," she said. "Then we help them monetize and to operate and to grow their customer base."
Unity is also extending the benefits of the IPO to its employees by allowing them to sell 15 percent of their shares on the first day of trading, rather than after 180 days as is usually stipulated in public offerings.
"We wanted them to be able to sell right away," Jabal said. "They've been working hard, some of them for 15 years."
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
