Uber stumbles in trading debut

Uber began trading on the New York Stock Exchange Friday at $42 per share, below its IPO price of $45. The stock was down more than 1% toward the start of trading. Uber priced its shares Thursday night toward the low end of its target range of $44 to $50 per share. That gave Uber a valuation of $75.46 billion at its IPO on a non-diluted basis, still well below the $120 billion it was reportedly seeking when news first broke it was preparing to go public. Toward the beginning of its trading, Uber’s market cap was around $74 billion.

The stock began trading in the face of difficult market conditions Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 300 points after President Donald Trump said on Twitter “there is absolutely no need to rush” trade talks with China.

Uber is now the second ride-hailing company to hit the U.S. public market, following Lyft’s debut in March. Both companies have been heavily scrutinized for continuing to post big losses, but many investors are also intrigued by the entrance of the new industry onto the public exchange. As Uber began its first day of trading, Lyft’s stock was down more than 2%.