Uber debuted on the New York Stock Exchange Friday, trading under the symbol
Uber began trading on the New York Stock Exchange Friday at $42 per share, below its IPO price of $45. The stock was down about 1% in the afternoon.
Uber priced its shares Thursday night toward the low endof its target range of $44 to $50 per share. That gave Uber a valuation of$75.46 billion at its IPO on a non-diluted basis, still well below the $120 billion it was reportedly seeking when news first broke it was preparing to go public. Toward the beginning of its trading, Uber’s market cap was around $74 billion.
The stock began trading in the face of difficult market conditions Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Averagefell about 300 points after President Donald Trump said on Twitter „there is absolutely no need to rush“ trade talks with China.
Uber’s Chief Financial Officer Nelson Chai said „this was a tough day“ on the market in an interview on CNBC after the stock began trading. Asked about whether executives considered delaying the IPO as a result of the conditions, Chai said, „I don’t think that we’re smart enough to try to judge the market… We weren’t optimizing to have the best opening price or the opening day. We’re really looking for how the stock continues to trade over time and that’s what we’re building for.“
Uber is now the second ride-hailing company to hit the U. S. public market, following Lyft’sdebut in March. Both companies have been heavily scrutinized for continuing to post big losses, but many investors are also intrigued by the entrance of the new industry onto the public exchange.
