Chart o’ the Day: How’d those other giant IPOs do?

via Joseph Ciolli at Bloomberg News:

Four of the five largest companies to list on U.S. exchanges plunged more than 17 percent in the year after going public, the CHART OF THE DAY shows. The exception, Visa Inc., soared 28 percent raising $19.7 billion in 2007. Alibaba, set to be the biggest IPO in U.S. history, has said it will raise as much as $21.8 billion when it prices the offering today.

bbg

 

Josh here – there’s no science to this, of course, but to me Alibaba is most similar to Visa. It’s essentially a clearinghouse business for retailers and a payments processor at its core. It’s a website, sure, but that doesn’t make it similar to Facebook at all.

Facebook is a social media company with an advertising model. China’s current Facebook is probably Tencent.

An interesting aside: The old “Facebook of China” was a company called Ren Ren, which trades now at $3 a share on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol RENN. Ren Ren’s popularity collapsed when web traffic shifted toward mobile, away from desktop, and they couldn’t make the leap. The company loses money each quarter and has seen usage drop by more than 50%.

As for Alibaba, they’re not even in the same ballpark, so the Facebook comparison makes no sense. If you ask me which of these corporate giants Alibaba looks most like, it’s definitely Visa.

 

 

 

This content, which contains security-related opinions and/or information, is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon in any manner as professional advice, or an endorsement of any practices, products or services. There can be no guarantees or assurances that the views expressed here will be applicable for any particular facts or circumstances, and should not be relied upon in any manner. You should consult your own advisers as to legal, business, tax, and other related matters concerning any investment.

The commentary in this “post” (including any related blog, podcasts, videos, and social media) reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints, and analyses of the Ritholtz Wealth Management employees providing such comments, and should not be regarded the views of Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC. or its respective affiliates or as a description of advisory services provided by Ritholtz Wealth Management or performance returns of any Ritholtz Wealth Management Investments client.

References to any securities or digital assets, or performance data, are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others.

Wealthcast Media, an affiliate of Ritholtz Wealth Management, receives payment from various entities for advertisements in affiliated podcasts, blogs and emails. Inclusion of such advertisements does not constitute or imply endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation thereof, or any affiliation therewith, by the Content Creator or by Ritholtz Wealth Management or any of its employees. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. For additional advertisement disclaimers see here: https://www.ritholtzwealth.com/advertising-disclaimers

Please see disclosures here.

What's been said:

Discussions found on the web
  1. wig commented on Jan 01

    … [Trackback]

    […] Information on that Topic: thereformedbroker.com/2014/09/19/chart-o-the-day-howd-those-other-giant-ipos-do/ […]