Chinese company Xiaomi (pronounced show-me, show as in “shower”) debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday to less-than-thunderous applause.
The company planned to raise enough in the IPO for a $100B valuation, but investors only had enough gas in the tank to get it to $54B, with stock dipping as much as 6% and closing just 1% up from the open price.
What gives?
Analysts speculate that Xiaomi’s valuation (which priced it at $2.12/share) may have been overly ambitious compared to the likes of already-public phone makers like Apple, and investors simply weren’t buying the hype.
The recent tariff-off between the US and China also may have investors wary, as Xiaomi will need to break into the American market at some point if it wants to keep growing.
That said…
They’re still the 4th-most valuable smartphone maker in the world, and their executives are still billionaires.
Founder and CEO Lei Jun owns about 28% of the company, a stake now worth about $14B, and President Lin Bin’s 12.5% stake made him a cool $6B.
So, all in all, not a bad Monday.
