NEW YORK: Snap Inc’s in-demand shares opened for trading on Thursday at $24 on the New York Stock Exchange a day after pricing at $17 per share.The owner of the popular Snapchat messaging app raised $3.4 billion in its initial public offering, pricing 200 million shares on Wednesday night above its stated range of $14 to $16 dollars a share. It faces intense competition from larger rivals such as Facebook’s Instagram as it grapples with decelerating user growth.Snap began trading into a market with keen hunger. Underwriters often price their IPOs below demand in order to ensure a first day spike.Such a pop, though positive for a company’s momentum, does not ensure long-term success. What better time to price,” said Stephen Massocca, senior vice president at Wedbush Securities. The launch could encourage debuts by other so-called unicorns, tech startups with private valuations of $1 billion or more.

Source: Economic Times March 02, 2017 19:41 UTC