Joe Kennedy (2nd L), president and CEO, and Tim Westergren (2nd R), founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Pandora internet radio, ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange June 15, 2011.BRENDAN MCDERMID/Reuters
The initial enthusiasm for Pandora Media Inc. on its first day of trading appears to be fizzling. The shares of the Internet radio company popped as high as $26 (U.S.) soon after trading began, but were recently spotted at $18.30. In other words, anyone who bought this stock on the open market is likely nursing a loss right now.
Pandora's initial public offering drew comparisons to other highly successful Internet-related IPOs this year, which have tapped into a strong desire among investors to gain exposure to this latest wave of technology know-how. Networking site LinkedIn Corp. and Russian search engine Yandex NV also surged on their first day of trading - and both serve as warm-up acts to rumours that Facebook Inc. will do an IPO later this year.
Despite the afternoon setback for Pandora, there is still a lot to celebrate here - at least for insiders who were able to get their hands on shares before they hit the market. The company's offering price was boosted from a range between $10 and $12 a share to a final price of $16 a share on Tuesday evening, valuing the company at about $2.6-billion.
As for latecomers, there's always the hope that Wednesday's fizzle will prove to be a temporary setback amid a disastrous day for the broader stock market.
David Berman