the toy companies are out of favor. Period. Just when u think it's safe to enter the water....wham! Markets can be perverse that's for sure.
Tuesday November 23, 3:28 pm Eastern Time
Smarterkids shares fall after $63 mln IPO
NEW YORK, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Shares of Needham, Mass.-based Smarterkids.com Inc. (NasdaqNM:SKDS - news) fell Tuesday after the company raised $63 million from its 4.5 million share initial public offering.
Shares of the online retailer of educational toys and software were off 1/2 to 13-1/2 on the Nasdaq after it priced its IPO at $14 a share.
Noting that Smarterkids.com priced in the middle of its $13-$15 a share estimated range, research director at WorldFinanceNet.com Irv DeGraw described demand for the offering as ''not all that strong.''
''(Smarterkids) picked the wrong day to come out,'' said Jeff Hirschkorn, an analyst at IPO.com. Citing a down market, he also mentioned higher profile IPOs like OpenTV Corp. (NasdaqSC:OPTV - news) and Telecorp PCS Inc. (NasdaqNM:TLCP - news) that began trading Tuesday and ''are taking center stage.''
Nine IPOs began trading trading Tuesday, and the gain leader OpenTV was up over 170 percent on the Nasdaq.
Both DeGraw and Hirschkorn compared Smarterkids to toy retailer Zany Brainy, Inc. (NasdaqNM:ZANY - news), a June issue whose shares are trading only marginally above their $10 pricing.
For the nine months ended Sept. 30, Smarterkids had a net revenue of $1.1 million and a net loss of $14.1 million. It has over 19 million shares outstanding. |
