These five companies had the worst public offerings of the year.
When it comes to IPOs, 2019 has been full of ups and downs. Overall, this year’s public offerings actually outperformed the market, but there were plenty of misteps along the way. Listed below are the five worst IPOs of 2019.
1. Uber
Uber’s highly anticipated IPO was a disappointment almost right from the start. The company set its IPO price at $45 per share, and it’s currently trading well below that at $30.68 per share.
Plus, Uber continues to lose billions of dollars, which calls into question whether the company can ever be profitable. And the ride-sharing market is quickly becoming oversaturated, making it difficult for Uber to cut costs.
2. Lyft
Lyft is another ride-sharing company and was one of the most notable IPOs of the year. The company went public with an asking price of $72 per share and on its first day of trading, the stock was up more than 8%. But the stock has since tanked and its currently trading around $45 per share.
3. Peloton
Peloton is an interactive fitness company that sells treadmills and bikes that cost upwards of $2,200. The company filed its preliminary prospectus in August, and went public in September. Peloton’s IPO price was $29 per share, and the company is currently trading below that at $27.19 per share.
4. SmileDirectClub
SmileDirectClub went public in September, and it was quickly dubbed one of the worst stock market debuts of the year. The company went public with an IPO price of $23 per share, and the stock has continued to fall since. The stock is currently trading at $8.32 per share.
5. WeWork
And finally, WeWork is one of the most notable IPO fails of the years. Although technically, WeWork never went public, though not for lack of trying. WeWork owns 529 coworking spaces across 111 different cities. The company filed its prospectus in August, and the results weren’t pretty.
The prospectus showed the company was losing huge amounts of money, and investors began to seriously question the company’s path to profitability. In just six weeks, the company went from a $47 billion valuation to backing out of its IPO, and former CEO Adam Neumann resigned.
