Yahoo Finance Petco spikes 44% on its first day of trading: Here's how the stock is doing
Petco Health and Wellness (WOOF) shares opened at $26 each on Thursday, about 44% higher than the company’s IPO price. The stock was trading as high as 55% during the first minutes after its public debut.
On Wednesday the pet care company sold 48 million shares for $18 each, raising $864 million.
Petco went public on the same day as Poshmark (POSH), the online marketplace for used goods. Poshmark shares soared about 140% during the first minutes of trading. Meanwhile on Wednesday Affirm (AFRM) made its public debut. Shares of the online payment company spiked more than 90% on their first day of trading.
Petco has been around since 1965 and has undergone major shifts over the last several years. In 2018, the company announced it would no longer sell dog and cat food and treats that contain artificial ingredients. Last October it removed shock collars from its shelves.
“We’ve seen the total addressable market grow significantly this year, and demand for new pets shows no sign of waning. Suffice it to say, our business was strong before the pandemic, accelerated during the pandemic, and we expect it to continue to grow at an accelerated rate long after the pandemic passes,” states the company’s S-1 filing.
During the pandemic, Petco implemented curbside pickup and e-commerce boomed as people stayed at home during the lockdowns.
“We are the pharmacy. We are the drugstore. We are the supermarket for pets,” CEO Ron Coughlin told Yahoo Finance amid the pandemic last year.
The pet health and wellness company has served over 21 million active customers as of October 30th, according to its filing.
“Our digital business has been growing at a strong rate since 2019 and is gaining share with millions of new customers flocking to our unique digital capabilities on both Petco.com and the Petco mobile app,” said the filing.
Comparing the first 39 weeks of Fiscal 2020 and Fiscal 2019, Petco increased net sales from $3.29 billion to $3.58 billion, representing period-over-period growth of 9.0%. Its comparable sales grew 9.6% over the same period.
The company reported an increase in Adjusted EBITDA from $292.6 million to $335.7 million, representing period-over-period growth of 14.7%.
Ines covers the U.S. stock market. Follow her on Twitter at @ines_ferre
Arrival, the latest EV company set to enter the public markets
NIO earnings: Chinese EV maker beats on revenue in the 3rd quarter
