Spotify’s opening number seemed to be music to the market’s ears…at least at first.
The streaming company made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday afternoon at more than $165 a pop, pegging its valuation at roughly $29.5 billion.
Over the course of the day, though, that price slipped to about $149, down about 12 percent from the highs of the day, but still well above the $132 a share reference price.
Spotify’s unconventional choice of a direct listing, instead of a traditional IPO, had investors and experts bracing for a roller-coaster ride on Tuesday.
“I thought we were going to see a lot of spikes up and down and up and down,” said Dan Primack, business reporter at Axios. But “it hasn’t been all over the place.”
This smoother-than-expected listing raises the question of whether more companies will follow in Spotify’s footsteps in the future.
“It’s not the right path for all,” Stacey Cunningham, COO of the New York Stock Exchange, told Cheddar before the stock started trading. “There are some unique factors for [Spotify].
“They don’t need to raise capital, so going through the IPO process isn’t something that was important to them.”
Spotify was much more interested in “providing that liquidity event for their shareholders...to have a currency...to do additional M&A deals going forward,” explained Cunningham.
So what’s in store for Spotify’s future?
Fam Mirza, one of the company’s earlier investors, told Cheddar he wouldn’t sell his shares in the listing, because he has faith in where the company is headed.
“They’re so amazing at entering new markets...They can still scale it, and then they get to those bottom line revenues.”
Mirza also doesn’t consider Apple, even as it gains ground in the space, as a real threat. After all, he pointed out, the tech giant has had plenty of opportunity to overtake it.
“Everybody has an iPhone. So as soon as Apple launched Apple Music...why hasn’t every single person who has an iPhone signed on to Apple Music?”
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/spotifys-unique-relationship-with-wall-street).
Even creative industries like advertising aren't exempt from advances in technology and automation. "Brand tech" firm You And Mr Jones took a majority stake in Inside Ideas Group, a company that helps brands form their own internal marketing groups.
The future is all-electric ー at least for General Motors, the carmaker's Chairwoman and CEO Mary Barra said on Cheddar Friday. "At General Motors, we believe in an all-electric future," Barra told Betty Liu, executive vice chairman for the New York Stock Exchange, through a special partnership between Cheddar and NYSE. "We believe that's the path forward, and that's why we are dedicating resources to build on the Chevrolet Volt first and second generations, now the Chevrolet Bolt EV."
Is it time for the federal government to hire its own chief information officer? Rep. Will Hurd (R-Tex.) thinks so. He told Cheddar Friday that the recent spate of major data breaches warrant a federal czar to help protect consumers and potentially even levy penalties on companies that don't do enough to safeguard users' information.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, Jan. 11, 2019.
Cryptocurrencies and digital assets are ideally left to the jurisdiction of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, rather than the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Congressman Darren Soto (D-Fla.). "Securities laws can be very intense and hurt the market unless it’s truly a security,” Soto told Cheddar Thursday.
Bitcoin's rebound over the $4,000 mark was short-lived, tumbling on Thursday below the $4,000 price level for the first time since Jan. 6. "I think it is a good chance we are going to retest 3,000 as a low and there is a good chance it will probably break through that ー if it hits that low," said Civic CEO Vinny Lingham in an interview with Cheddar. "The market is definitely trying to find a bottom, and I don't think we've found one yet."
Cristiano Amon, president of Qualcomm, spoke to Cheddar's Hope King from CES, where Qualcomm is unveiling several new products and initiatives, including A.I.-based infotainment centers for vehicles. But the big story of the year, Amon said, will be the spread of 5G technology, which he expects to be in most major cities and on most new Android devices by the second half of this year.
Adoption of new technology won't necessarily cause jobs to disappear ー even if that technology is a humanoid robot, said Steve Carlin, the chief strategy officer of SoftBank Robotics America. "I think the incorrect assumption is simply because you're employing technology, that therefore a job has to go away," Carlin told Cheddar's Hope King on Thursday.
Dustee Jenkins, global head of communications for Spotify, came to CES to "put a stake in the ground" for podcasting. She told Cheddar that Spotify still sees upside in new forms of audio storytelling, and its "discover" algorithm can help users find podcasts that will appeal to them, much in the way millions of people use the feature to find new bands.
GoPro has carved out a niche for itself as the go-to maker of action cameras. And one trend in particular helped kick-start the camera-maker's success: the selfie. CEO Nick Woodman told Cheddar's Hope King the company had a real "aha" moment around 2009 when it introduced high-definition (HD) footage into its selfie-style camera.
