Listings in US in doubt despite solid Weibo debut
Updated: 2014-04-19 09:40
By Meng Jing (China Daily)
|
|||||||||||
The shares of Weibo Corp gained strongly in their Nasdaq debut on Thursday. However, the IPO valued Weibo at about $3.3 billion, far below the initial estimate of about $8 billion. [Photo / Provided to China Daily]
|
New stock may signal declining US appetite for Chinese shares
The shares of Weibo Corp gained strongly in their Nasdaq debut on Thursday, but the cloud over United States-listed Chinese stocks hasn't totally lifted, said analysts.
|
|
Weibo shares closed 19 percent above their IPO price on Thursday, standing out among US-listed tech companies, whose stocks have been beaten down by Wall Street investors over the past several weeks.
Despite the seemingly strong performance, the Beijing-based company's opening price on the Nasdaq was $16.27, a 4.3 percent discount to the IPO price.
The social media company, which offers a micro-blogging service, is estimated to have raised up to $328.44 million by selling 16.8 million American depositary shares at $17 each. However, its initial plan was to sell about 20 million ADS at a target range of $17 to $19.
Ultimately, the IPO valued Weibo at about $3.3 billion, far below the initial estimate of about $8 billion.
The fact that Weibo had to cut its offering size highlighted increased concerns on Wall Street about the high-valuation Internet companies, whether they are US-based ones such as Twitter Inc and Facebook Inc or US-listed Chinese stocks.
At least seven other Chinese Internet companies are seeking capital in the US. They've filed applications to raise a total of $2.8 billion in New York this year, which would be the most since the fourth quarter of 2007, according to data complied by Bloomberg News. That doesn't include e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, whose highly anticipated IPO is estimated to be the biggest in the US in at least two years.
Hou Xiaotian, chief analyst with T. H. Capital LLC, an independent research and investment advisory firm, said that the US-listed tech companies have been high-fliers over the past two years and investors are adjusting their valuations of these companies.
"It is a challenging situation for any IPO," said Hou.
Alibaba confirms IPO in US | Alibaba investing in US messagingstartup Tango |
Related Stories
Listings in US in doubt despite solid Weibo debut 2014-04-19 07:35
China's Weibo, Leju make trading debut on US market 2014-04-18 09:51
Weibo makes debut on Nasdaq 2014-04-18 07:21
Weibo to price its IPO at $17 per share 2014-04-17 19:21
Today's Top News
Ukraine govt mulls constitutional reform
APEC fuels interest in English
Anti-graft push gives more family time
Property price surge could soon over
Three dead in Ukraine, Putin warns of 'abyss'
Ferry's captain under probe
Nobel laureate Marquez dies at 87
Quality of arable land 'worrying'
Hot Topics
Lunar probe , China growth forecasts, Emission rules get tougher, China seen through 'colored lens', International board,
Editor's Picks
Beijing integrates with Tianjin, Hebei |
Enemies share eternity together |
Expats flee big, smoggy cities |
Life after an only child dies |
Parents put kindergartens to the test |
White Crane dance takes flight |