It's been an eventful first day on the New York Stock Exchange for Roblox after its long-rumored plans to go public finally came to fruition yesterday. Even with some investors distracted by other events in the sector, the company performed admirably and looks set to continue that trend once markets open again today.
Roblox's market entry has been on the cards for a while now, after its initial plans to go public last year were put on hold, reportedly to avoid competition from other companies making the same move at the time. The company finally burst onto the scene yesterday afternoon, and soon saw its stock price jump from its opening value of $64.75 (already up from the reference price of $45) to a high of $74.55 before settling at $69.50 by the time of the market's close.
It would appear that Roblox has another exciting day in store, though, if the after-hours dealings are anything to go by. Notably, ARK Invest's Cathie Wood bought up over 500,000 shares after the market closed, estimated at $36 million by Wednesday's closing price, which will likely nudge the company's value up once the market opens again. All in all, the total market cap of the company as of the end of trading sits at around $38.26 billion, up significantly from its previous valuation as a private company of $29.5 billion and proving comparable to other industry heavy hitters like EA.
The sheer amount of money at play makes it clear that the video game industry could be a tremendous opportunity for investors going forward, but it's not all fun and games. GameStop is enduring another spike in stock prices reminiscent of the January GameStonks fiasco, and some have suggested that its volatility might be distracting from other options. On the other hand, if GameStop's movement does turn out to be another flash in the pan, it could see investors flocking back to safer and seemingly more stable companies like Roblox in the coming days.
While some other companies, like Hello Neighbor publisher TinyBuild, have followed in the same footsteps as Roblox in going public, other studios and publishers have been slower to warm to the idea. Notably, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney recently talked up the benefits of being a private company, explaining that it gave the company freedom to pursue money-losing ventures like their lawsuit against Apple and Google without being beholden to shareholders and the pressure of returning ever-increasing profit and dividends.
That line between growth in the name of ambition and the seeking of profit for investors has always been a blurred one, and it remains to be seen how Roblox will adjust to the new pressures of being a publicly-traded company. It's already beginning to focus on bringing in an older audience to supplement its youthful fanbase, but it's difficult to say at present whether this will prove the first stage of relentless monetization or simply a way of expanding the Roblox family and bringing the fun to more people.
Source: New York Stock Exchange, CNBC