Lyft shares soar on Nasdaq debut, setting stage for Uber

Lyft Inc.'s shares rose by as much as 23 percent in their market debut on Friday, amid strong investor demand for the ride-hailing service that bodes well for larger rival Uber Technologies Inc.

Lyft's IPO, which is the year's biggest thus far, sets the stage for other Silicon Valley unicorns seeking to debut in the stock market this year, including Pinterest Inc., Postmates Inc. and Slack Technologies Inc.

The success of the IPO came despite Lyft's steep loses, criticism of its dual-class share structure, and some concerns over its strategy for autonomous driving and new laws aimed at increasing driver pay.

Public market investors, keen on Lyft's revenue growth and after enduring a long stretch with few IPOs from highly valued tech companies, piled into the offering.

On Thursday, Lyft priced 32.5 million shares, slightly more than it was offering originally, at 72 U.S. dollars, the top of its already elevated 70-72 U.S. dollars per share target range, raising 2.34 billion U.S. dollars in its initial public offering.

The stock opened at 87.24 U.S. dollars but later pared gains to close up 8.7 percent at 78.29 U.S. dollars, giving Lyft a market capitalization of around 22.2 billion U.S. dollars.

Lyft's offering ended up 20 times oversubscribed, similar to other high-profile IPOs, with more than 500 orders from institutional investors such as mutual funds, according to people familiar with the matter.

(CGTN)