Spotify surges past Twitter, Snap and Dropbox in long-awaited market debut
Revenue from recorded music in the US, the world’s largest market, grew two years in a row for the first time since 1999
New York — Spotify soared on Tuesday to a value of more than $26bn in its long-awaited stock debut, as the market delivered a ringing endorsement of the future of music streaming. In one of the tech sector’s largest public offerings yet, Spotify’s valuation on its first day topped the market capitalisation of other high-profile recent market entrants, including Twitter, Snapchat parent Snap and Dropbox. Spotify opened on the New York Stock Exchange at $165.90 per share, giving the Swedish company a value of $29.5bn. It closed at $149.01, a drop of more than 10% but still above the pre-trading reference point — and ending the day with a value of $26.5bn. Trading as SPOT, Spotify took the unorthodox step of listing existing shares directly on the bourse rather than issuing new stock, allowing its founders and early investors to maintain control. The unusual listing added to the suspense over how Spotify would fare on the market since the company, while big on its cool factor, has yet ...
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