IPOs We Love To Hate

• (0:30) - Revisiting Past IPO's: Performance Update
• (1:40) - September 2014: Alibaba IPO Debut
• (3:45) - Facebook's IPO
• (6:35) - The Burger Rush: Shake Shack IPO
• (9:30) - Snapchat's Struggling IPO and Fitbit's LimitedProductRange
• (15:45) - Is Canada Goose a Fad?
• (18:20) - Fitness Trends: YogaWorks IPO
• (21:15) - Big Upcoming IPOs: Uber and Airbnb
• (28:00) - Episode Roundup: Podcast@Zacks.com

Welcome to Episode #97 of the Zacks Market Edge Podcast.

Every week, host and Zacks stock strategist, Tracey Ryniec, will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life.

In this episode, Tracey is joined by David Bartosiak, editor of Zacks Homerun Investor and Momentum Trader portfolios, to discuss what has happened with the recent big IPOs.

When Alibaba ( (NYSE:BABA) ) went public, Tracey and David did a nearly 3-hour live IPO show on YouTube. Their consensus, at the time, was that Alibaba faced a lot of headwinds, among them that it was a Chinese company without a lot of transparency.

But a lot can change in a company’s business model over the years. Some have managed to find new business streams and re-invent themselves.

Alibaba has gone from revenue of $12.2 billion in fiscal 2012 to expected 2018 revenue of $34.8 billion. Not too shabby. Expansion of Alipay and a push into India and Southeast Asia, which wasn’t as prominent at the time of the IPO, has added to their success.

Were Tracey and Dave wrong about Alibaba?

And what about the other “hot” IPOs of the last few years?

5 IPOs We Love to Hate

1. Facebook ( (NASDAQ:FB) ) was the flavor of the year when it went IPO in 2012. In 2011, it had revenue of just $3.7 billion and had just paid a $1 billion for a little-used photo platform called Instagram. Tracey thought its valuations were nuts. Is she eating crow now?

2. Shake Shack ( (NYSE:SHAK) ) went IPO with much fanfare in 2015 but shares are now at all-time lows. What’s going wrong? Do Tracey or Dave like it now?

3. Canada Goose ( (NYSE:GOOS) ) makes expensive winter coats. It recently moved into the knitwear market to try and expand its market. Is it a fad or does it have staying power?

4. Snap Inc. ( (NYSE:SNAP) ) has struggled since its IPO earlier this year. Is there a buying opportunity?

5. Fitbit ( (NYSE:FIT) ) was the darling of Wall Street when it went IPO in 2015 but shares are down 81% from their high. Revenue is expected to fall 25% this year. Is the bloom off the rose for this technology company?

Several big possible IPOs that Wall Street is watching, and wishing, for include Uber, Pinterest, Airbnb, and Palantir.

Uber has a new CEO who has mentioned launching an IPO in the next several years. But many believe that Pinterest is a more likely candidate.

What do Tracey and Dave think about these possible IPOs? Will they be loving, or hating, them?

Tune into this week’s podcast to find out.

[In full disclosure, the author of this article owns shares of FB.]

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