skip to main content

Busy time for IPOs on enthusiasm for stocks

Paul Sommerville says that Uber's performance since its IPO has been 'underwhelming'
Paul Sommerville says that Uber's performance since its IPO has been 'underwhelming'

Chinese coffee chain Luckin's flotation on the Nasdaq stock exchange later today is the latest big initial public offering so far this year - following brands like Pinterest, Lyft and Beyond Meat. 

The biggest flotation of the year so far, however, has been Uber, which listed for the first time earlier this month. But so far its performance has been underwhelming to say the least. 

"We know it's a very busy time for IPOs," said Paul Sommerville, CEO of Sommerville Advisory Markets. "Uber last week was the biggest one so far in 2019, but the share price hasn't done very well, it's down around 15% since it floated.

"That's not the whole story, though, because Uber was valued at $120 billion last October, while last week it was valued at $60 billion - so it's actually down around 50% since October," Paul Sommerville said. 

Uber was beaten to the market by its main rival Lyft, though it has been a similar story for the smaller company. Its share price is down around 40% on its IPO, which took place only a few weeks ago. 

"You can see that the advisors of these companies are saying that you should come to market," Mr Sommerville said. "Complacency and enthusiasm for stocks in general is very high but the share prices of some of them at least haven't been performing well." 

We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences


Both Uber and Lyft are making heavy losses at the moment and they have warned that those losses will continue for some time. 

However they have also signalled to markets that 2019 will be their worst years in terms of the bottom line, with losses reducing from 2020 onwards. That begs the question as to why they saw this year as the right one to pull the IPO trigger.

"It's a very peculiar time to come to the market - the only thing you can think is that their advisors think it's a good time to come to market because they think that they might miss out by the end of the year if the US economy is slowing down," the analyst said. "I would suggest that it's a reverse sentiment indicator as such, because they're rushing to the market when their losses are so big," he added. 

In reality a falling share price may not bother companies too much and, in fact, some may be happy to know that they got a better price at IPO stage than the market subsequently felt the shares were worth. 

However Mr Sommerville said this kind of price fall does have a broader impact on the market, as investors who might have been burned in one listing will be less willing to take a chance on another.

But early investors of some stocks will be feeling buoyed by their decision - particularly backers of vegan burger-maker Beyond Meat. It listed at the start of the month and shares are already more than 40% higher.

According to Mr Sommerville, little of that is driven by the company's fundamentals. Instead it is being influenced by the on-trend nature of the product it's selling, as well as the 'short squeeze' that is currently underway on its stock.

Overall he feels investors should be wary of any IPO, urging people to ask why they should but stock when a company and its advisors think it is time to sell. 

"If you're an investor I would always suggest you step back from the IPO, maybe wait six months or a year and see when the company has reported earnings," he said. 

"It's a sentiment indicator - and it's a reverse sentiment indicator - these guys are trying to offload shares into a buoyant market before the tide turns," he added.