Uber, Lyft and Slack: how new tech stocks performed in 2019

Many hotly anticipated IPOs went bust over the last 12 months

The market has performed extremely well this year, with the Nasdaq up more than 34 percent and the Dow rising 22 percent, both hitting record highs. With a market that hot, it's not surprising that many companies that had put off their IPOs suddenly began to see a big opportunity to hit the ground running.

And, yet, it didn't quite work out that way for new tech stocks. many of which under performed this year. Even as the established players like Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and Amazon all saw their stocks rise over the last 12 months, new companies like Lyft, Uber, Slack and Pinterest all got hit hard, ending the year below where they started. 

While that doesn't mean those companies won't bounce back, there does seem to be a shift happening in the way these companies are viewed, with investors having less patience with a companies that aren't showing they can be profitable. A report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch in October found that the proportion of unprofitable companies going public has reached 70 percent, the highest level in 20 years.

"Recent IPO withdrawals could be a warning sign that investors are shifting focus to profitability amid macro concerns," BAML strategists wrote in a note to their clients. 

"The potential ripple effect could be significant — tech innovation has been one of the biggest deflationary factors and if companies start focusing more on profitability via pricing, we could start to see an upward pressure in inflation."

Here's how some of those new tech stocks that went public this year performed:

 

IPO date: October 25

Amount raised in IPO: $82 million

IPO price: $13

Opening price: $13.5, up 3.8 percent

Closing price: $15.94, up 18 percent

Market cap at IPO: $1.3 billion

Current price: $28.21, up 117 percent from IPO price

 

IPO date: April 18

Amount raised in IPO: $356.8 million

IPO price: $36

Opening price: $65, up 80.6 percent

Closing price: $62, down 4.6 percent

Market cap at IPO: $16 billion

Current price: $66.79, up 85.5 percent from IPO price

 

IPO date: June 12

Amount raised in IPO: $612 million

IPO price: $34

Opening price: $63.50, up 86 percent

Closing price: $58, down 8.7 percent

Market cap at IPO: $7 billion

Current price: $50.02, up 47 percent from IPO price

 

IPO date: July 25

Amount raised in IPO: $182 million

IPO price: $26

Opening price: $37.50, up 44.2 percent 

Closing price: $39.17, up 4.5 percent

Market cap at IPO: $784 million

Current price: $34.50, up 32 percent from IPO price

 

IPO date: April 18

Amount raised in IPO: $1.43 billion

IPO price: $19

Opening price: $23.75, up 25 percent

Closing price: $24.40, up 2.7 percent

Market cap at IPO: $12.6 billion

Current price: $18.09, down 5.8 percent from IPO price 

 

 IPO date: June 28

Amount raised in IPO: $300 million

IPO price: $20

Opening price: $28, up 40 percent

Closing price: $28.9, up 3.2 percent

Market cap at IPO: $2.39 billion

Current price: $18.05, down 9.7 percent from IPO price

 

IPO date: July 25

Amount raised in IPO: $355 million

IPO price: $28

Opening price: $40.51, up 44.7 percent

Closing price: $38.10, down 6 percent

Market cap at IPO: $2.1 billion

Current price: $24.09, down 14 percent from IPO price

 

IPO date: June 20

Amount raised in IPO: None

IPO price: $26

Opening price: $38.50, up 48 percent

Closing price: $38.62, up 0.3 percent

Market cap at IPO: $19.5 billion

Current price: $22.21, down 14.6 percent from IPO price

 

IPO date: May 13

Amount raised in IPO: $8.1 billion

IPO price: $45

Opening price: $42, down 6.6 percent 

Closing price: $41.57, down 7.6 percent

Market cap at IPO: $82 billion

Current price: $29.73, down 33.9 percent from IPO price

 

IPO date: March 29

Amount raised in IPO: $2.34 billion

IPO price: $72

Opening price:  $87.24, up 21 percent 

Closing price: $78.29, up 8.7 percent

Market cap at IPO: $24.3 billion

Current price: $43.58, down 39.5 percent from IPO price 

(Image source: foolcdn.com)