(Reuters) - Shares in SoftBank's Arm Holdings ARM.O opened 10% above their offer price in their Nasdaq debut on Thursday, valuing the British chip designer at nearly $60 billion in its return to the public markets after seven years.
The stock opened at $56.10 per American Depositary Share compared with the initial public offering (IPO) price of $51, and steadily extended gains to just over $60.
Here's what analysts and investors are saying about the company's debut:
SALMAN MALIK, PARTNER, ANSON FUNDS"It is a successful IPO as the book was nine times covered. It will have a positive impact on the IPO pipeline and shows AI theme is alive and kicking."
OWEN LAU, SENIOR ANALYST AT OPPENHEIMER & CO.
"This pop can get people more excited about the IPO market for the rest of this year and going into 2024. That said, it is better to get the full picture of the trading for the whole day."
JORDAN STUART, A PORTFOLIO MANAGER AT FEDERATED HERMES.
"The deal was priced within its range which tells me that investors are price sensitive and boards and investment banks are showing a little bit of humility."
"It's encouraging for the IPO market that investors are saying 'I want to buy a secular growth name that is unique and can play catch up with these seven companies that have run up so much this year.'"
DANIEL KLAUSNER, HEAD (LON:HEAD) OF U.S. PUBLIC EQUITY ADVISORY AT HOULIHAN LOKEY
"Success begets success in the IPO market because it's such a FOMO market .... For the last year or two, we haven't had that many successes. So this it's good to get some points up on the board."
"But the IPO market does not have a window that everybody can get out of, because a lot of these companies and what buyside is looking for (an IPO) are generally larger scale companies."
KYLE RODDA, SENIOR MARKET ANALYST AT BROKERAGE FIRM CAPITAL.COM.
"The Arm IPO is the most hyped listing we've had in the markets for a while."
"It will also be a major test of risk appetite and whether these high-growth, speculative companies still attract interest in a new world of higher interest rates."
ANDREW BOND, MANAGING DIRECTOR AND SENIOR FINTECH ANALYST, AT ROSENBLATT SECURITIES
"Anytime it (Nasdaq) gets a new listed company, it's able to drive revenue not just through the listing, but also through the other services that it sells to these listed companies on their exchange." (This story has been corrected to fix the percentage to 10%, not 18%, in paragraph 1)