Is it so?!: CANDY CRUSH MAKER CLOSES DOWN 15.6% ON IPO DAY

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

CANDY CRUSH MAKER CLOSES DOWN 15.6% ON IPO DAY

King's successful IPO on New York Stock Market!

King Digital Entertainment, maker of the game Candy Crush Saga, had a rough first day as a public company, closing down 15.56%.
In fact, King had one of the biggest day-one drops in the past six months, which included Chegg, Violin Memory, and now King, Bloomberg reports.

King made its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange this morning, opening at $20.50 a share.

The stock quickly declined 6% following its market debut. It closed the day down 15.56% at $19.00.

Yesterday, King priced its initial public offering at $22.50 a share, in the middle of the expected range, CNBC reported.

King and early investors, like private equity firm Apax Partners LLP, intended to sell 22.2 million shares, according to Bloomberg, which would raise a little less than $500 million.

The company is now trading on the NYSE under the symbol KING.

King has a library of 180 games, but it relies the most on Candy Crush Saga, which brings in about 80% of King's revenue.

That's where the big red flag comes from. King's revenues and fortunes rely on a single game, and that game is in decline. This also explains why the stock did not perform well on day one.

Gross bookings in the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2013, were on the decline compared to the quarter ending Sept. 30, 2013. That decline was driven by a decrease in Candy Crush Saga gross bookings.

"It's a one-hit-wonder," Francis Gaskins, director of research for Equities.com and president of IPOdesktop.com, told the AP. "The history of game companies is that none of them can prove that they can consistently introduce new products to grow revenue. They say they can, but they can't."

Some investors were betting that they could profit from a quick pop once the stock started trading, but that wasn't the case.

"It almost stood no chance,” analyst Scott Sweet told MarketWatch. “It wasn’t surprising. It’s getting pounded.” Sweet said there appeared to be “a hope for a pop that never materialized” as “traders immediately pulled the trigger.”