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).
Despite the stock market's recent volatility, especially within the tech sector, cloud-based software company Anaplan had a strong showing during its first day of public trading. Frank Calderoni, CEO of Anaplan, said the company's reputation is what is resonating with investors right now.
Tom Forte, senior research analyst at D.A. Davidson, said Turtle Beach, which makes the headsets so popular with gamers, benefits from the huge popularity of Fortnite and could be an acquisition target for Microsoft. Shares, while down from their highs of the year, are still up 1,000 percent this year.
Venture capitalist Jenny Gyllander wants to help people understand exactly what her industry is all about. So she started an Instagram account called Thingtester, which reviews products from both a consumer and investor standpoint.
The Dow Industrials came out of the gate roaring Friday morning, but by midday had given back 400 points worth of gains and turned negative. By 1 pm, though, the index was back up triple digits.
Genius, the online encyclopedia for lyrics, has struck a deal with Apple that will allow Apple Music subscribers to listen to a song and follow the lyrics side-by-side, all from the Genius website.
Stocks rebounded at the market open Friday after a massive two-day sell-off. The Dow Industrials shot up by 400 points.
On Thursday the Dow closed down more than 500 points, just one day after a 800 point drop. The tech-heavy Nasdaq briefly fell more than 10 percent from its all-time highs, as the market's "fear index" hit its highest level since February. Eugene Yashin, CEO and CIO at Signet Financial
Management, discusses what's causing the volatility.
Anne Mahlum isn't mincing words: her start-up is for sale. The founder and CEO of Solidcore, the latest boutique fitness studio with an NYC flagship, says she's expanding the business with an eye on a sale within five years.
The markets looked to recover from a major sell-off on Wednesday. The Dow closed down more than 800 points. The Florida Panhandle is reeling after Hurricane Michael tore through the region causing catastrophic damage. And Razer launched a handful of new products, including the Razer Phone 2, to make gaming more accessible. Kevin Allen joins Cheddar to explain what makes the products stand out in the gaming world.
Shopify, the Canadian e-commerce site, is finding its place offline opening its first retail space ever in Los Angeles. Satish Kanwar, VP of product at Shopify, said that the company's goal is always to make entrepreneurship more accessible.
