The 2019 financial calender is set to be a big year for IPO’s, with Lyft, the ride sharing giant having already been issued, Investors are eagerly awaiting other highly anticipated IPO’s from Airbnb, SpaceX, Pinterest,Uber and a handful of other big names expected to hit the ground running this year. Looking backwards, there have been some extremely profitable IPO’s over the last decade, and here are the top five IPO’s based on valuation at debut.
1. Alibaba Group
First on our list the Chinese E-commerce giant who was valued at a staggering $21.7 Billion USD when it went public in September 2014. Alibaba’s IPO was not only the biggest IPO in the last ten years, it also has held the title for the largest (by value) IPO in the world. Shares of Alibaba were priced at a respectable $68 USD per share, and opened at $92.70 before closing for the day at $93.89. The stock fell only 3% one year after its initial IPO but since going public the company has surged over 170%.
2. Facebook
Facebook the social media giant made their debut on the public market on may 18th 2012, and this was one of the most highly anticipated IPO’s in the last ten years. The social media company was valued at $16 Billion USD at the time of going public and was priced at $38 USD per share. When trading began Facebook faced bad omens from the opening bell, as Nasdaq’s technological glitches caused the company to finish trading on their first day at $38.23 USD. Although there was a lot of excitement surrounding the purchase of Facebook shares, the companies first year of trading was extremely rough.
To this day it is still recognized as an ‘epic IPO flop” as shares faced a hefty downward incline leading the share price to drop 40% nearly a year after going public. Nevertheless, investors who decided to hold onto Facebook, were rewarded very well, with the stock soaring almost 360% since its IPO.
3. General Motors
2019 is a big year for General Motors, as it will mark the companies 10-year IPO anniversary. At the time of going public on November 18th 2010, GM had a substantial market valuation of $15.8 billion USD. Shares were priced at $33 USD and at the end of the first day of trading they were 3% higher closing at $34.19 USD per share. General motors stock did not hold on to the boosted value for too long, as the companies share price fell 34% in the first year of debut, however since then general motors has been a steady investment that has generated 18% since going public.
4. HCA Healthcare
Moving on, we have HCA Healthcare who’s IPO hit the markets on March 10th 2011, which was the largest health care IPO at the time and has held that record for the last decade. The company at launch was valued at $3.8 Billion USD, and at the time of their IPO the shares were priced at $30 USD per share. Starting off on the right foot, the company ended their first day of trading at $31.02 USD per share and in their first year of trading the share price faced a drop of almost 15%. Despite the uneasy start for the health care giant, since their IPO HCA has sky rocketed and has seen a pleasant 345% increase since day one.
5. Snap
Another giant in the social media sector completes our list, with Snap which was arguably the most anticipated tech IPO since Facebook went public. Snap made their debut on the public market on March 2nd 2017 with a valuation of a little over $3.4 Billion USD. Shares were initially offered at $17 and closed on their first day of trading at $24.48. In their first year of trading Snap had not faced as much difficulty as Facebook, with Snap seeing a steady 5% increase to share price. However since that point, the company has been on a precipitous decline, with a large number of executives departing from the company, the company has been struggling to give investors what they need, and the share price since launch has dropped almost 35%.
John Chung – Midway Management