Electric Carmaker Xpeng’s IPO Jumps 54%
Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng completed its IPO on Thursday with shares priced at $15 (above the expected range) and investors getting a nice 54% premium to that price as well.
Guangzhou, China-based Xpeng Motors Inc. (NYSE: XPEV) raised approximately $1.5 billion Thursday morning in the company’s initial public offering (IPO). Shares were priced at $15, above the expected range of $11 to $13, and Xpeng also boosted its offer from 85 million American depositary shares (ADS) to 99.7 million. Each ADS is equal to two ordinary shares.
This is the second IPO for a China-based electric vehicle maker in less than a month. On July 30, Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ: LI | LI Price Prediction) came public at $11.50 per share, above its expected range of $8 to $10, and raised about $1.1 billion by selling 95 million ADSs.
One has to wonder if the demand for EV-makers’ stocks hasn’t outrun demand for their vehicles. Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) has added about 440% to its share price so far in 2020, and the stock shows no signs of pulling back. With a market cap of around $400 billion, Tesla is the world’s most valuable car company.
At its opening price of $23.10 per share, Xpeng has a market cap of around $17 billion, roughly equal to Li Auto and about 30% below Nio Ltd. (NYSE: NIO) with a market cap of around $24 billion.
Xpeng’s first trading has cast a chill on Li Auto’s stock. The ADSs are trading down more than 16% at $19.59 in a post-IPO range of $14.31 to $24.48. The consensus price target on the stock is $19.85.
Nio traded down about 2%, at $20.04 in a 52-week range of $1.19 to $20.97. The high was posted Wednesday. The price target on the stock is $13.02.
Xpeng traded up nearly 59% at $23.80 in the mid-afternoon Wednesday. The stock’s range Thursday is $22.27 to $25.00.
[recirclink id= 731489][wallst_email_signup]
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.
