PetSmart’s Chewy shares soar during its market debut
PetSmart’s online retailer Chewy's shares opened at an impressive $36 Friday in its public debut after the company priced its initial public offering (IPO) at $22 a share.
Shares of the online supplies retailer, which is trading under the ticker symbol "CHWY," skyrocketed nearly 63 percent Friday. The market value of the company was $14.35 billion, Reuters reported. Between 2012 and 2018, Chewy’s sales increased from $26 million to $3.5 billion. In 2018, Chewy reported a net loss of $268 million -- down from $338 million in 2017.
Chewy sold more shares than expected -- about 46.5 million were sold in the IPO, up from the planned 41.6 million. PetSmart will receive about $900 million from the sale. Chewy said it will use the money raised -- about $123.2 million -- for its working capital and general corporate purposes.
The online pet supplies retailer was acquired by PetSmart in 2017 for around $3 billion. PetSmart went private in 2015 after a group of investors led by the buyout firm BC Partners completed their $8.7 billion acquisition of the pet store retailer.
Chewy faces competition from Amazon and Blue Buffalo Pet Products.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHWY | CHEWY INC. | 15.38 | +0.29 | +1.92% |
Ryan Cohen, the co-founder of Chewy, said he believed the company had the potential for continued growth.
“There’s still lots of penetration and growth to be had just within the U.S. market, there’s continuing to expand internationally,” Cohen said earlier this week.
Cohen stepped down as Chewy’s CEO in 2018.
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Like other companies, Chewy made its debut on the public markets. Uber posted strong revenue growth in its first quarter as a public company, but also $1 billion in losses.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.