StubHub Falls 6% Below IPO Price on First Day of Trading

StubHub began its beingness arsenic a nationalist institution with a humble diminution connected the New York Stock Exchange, arsenic its shares fell beneath the IPO price. The secondary ticketing company’s shares opened astatine $25.35 and peaked astatine $26.34 earlier ending the time astatine $22.00, 6.4% beneath the $23.50 archetypal nationalist offering terms acceptable a time earlier.  

A first-day driblet isn’t antithetic for companies that spell public. From 1980 to 2024, 16.5% of IPO stocks had first-day losses, according to statistics compiled by the University of Florida’s Jay R. Ritter. But a acold higher percent of IPO stocks fell connected their archetypal time of trading successful caller years. In 2023 and 2024, that fig roseate to 53.7% and 34.7%, respectively.  

StubHub offered 34.04 cardinal shares of Class A communal stock. Prior to the offering connected Wednesday (Sept. 17), the institution had targeted a terms scope of $22.00 to $25.00 per share. Wednesday’s $22.00 closing terms equates to a marketplace capitalization of astir $7.58 billion.  

The institution plans to usage the IPO proceeds to wage down indebtedness and money moving capital. As of June 30, 2025, StubHub had indebtedness of $2.38 billion, $1.24 cardinal successful currency and currency equivalents and a antagonistic moving superior of $1.2 billion. Interest disbursal successful the archetypal fractional of 2025 totaled $86 million. 

StubHub was founded successful 2000 by Eric Baker, who near the institution earlier it was acquired by eBay successful 2007. Baker founded viagogo successful 2006 and built the institution into a starring secondary ticketing marketplace extracurricular of the U.S. Viagogo acquired StubHub successful 2020, and some companies present beryllium nether the StubHub umbrella.  

Investors successful the IPO were buying into what’s known arsenic a “controlled company.” Baker owns 100% of StubHub’s 3.64 cardinal Class B communal shares, and pursuing Wednesday’s offering, helium controls astir 88% of the voting power. Each Class B stock carries 100 votes per stock to 1 ballot per stock for the Class A shares held by investors. That gives Baker the quality to power outcomes of matters that necessitate shareholder votes, including the predetermination of the committee of directors.  

StubHub reported a net nonaccomplishment of $76 million connected gross of $828 million, up 3%, successful the archetypal fractional of 2025. Gross merchandise income — the full worth paid by customers for tickets and fulfillment — was $4.4 billion, up 11% from the prior-year period. Adjusted net earlier taxes, interest, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was $102 million.  

Revenue maturation was down markedly from 29.5% successful 2024 and 31.9% successful 2023. In a statement, Kyle Stanford, manager of task superior probe astatine PitchBook, said StubHub’s “low gross maturation complaint highlights uncertainty successful the user market, connected which it depends. Consumer sentiment has fallen implicit the past fewer months arsenic ostentation has picked up, adding headwinds to resuming the maturation it saw the twelvemonth before.” 

But StubHub sees favorable marketplace conditions up and beli...