This was supposed to be a year of blockbuster IPOs from flashy startups. Uber. Lyft. WeWork. Instead, shares of Uber and Lyft have floundered. It’s an open question whether WeWork will move ahead with its public debut at all.
It’s in this environment that Peloton, the buzzy indoor cycling startup, began offering stock to public investors for the first time on Thursday. Shares are trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol PTON. And they aren’t doing well.
Early signs had been positive. The company priced its stock at $29 per share, at the upper end of its range.
Yet shares opened at $27 and in afternoon shares the price had dropped more to a low of $26.37.
They slid further later in the day to close at $25.76, down 11.17 percent.
The company will now be valued at $8.1 billion, according to financial data firm PitchBook. That’s nearly double its last valuation in the private market.
But risks remain. Investors have shown waning patience for companies that aren’t able to control their costs. While Peloton saw a massive increase in revenue to $915 million in its most recent fiscal year, losses more than doubled, jumping to nearly $196 million from roughly $48 million.
Inevitably there have been comparisons between Peloton and SmileDirectClub, whose shares have dropped more than one third below their IPO price since the company went public earlier this month. Like Peloton, the provider of transparent braces is quickly growing its revenue, but its losses are piling up, too.
Those with faith in Peloton’s story will point to its rabidly devoted customer base. It more than doubled its connected subscribers in a year, with more than 511,000 as of June 30.
That’s a lot of people willing to shell out for at-home boutique exercise classes. Peloton’s indoor bikes start at $2,245 and its treadmill starts at $4,295. Both require memberships that cost $39 a month and give riders and runners access to classes live and on-demand.
