Snap’s late-stage investors, such as Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, and Alibaba, will be breathing a sigh of relief after the company’s stock began trading at $24 a share Thursday morning. How long that relief lasts is a big question, given skepticism among some analysts and investors about Snap’s competitive position.
The opening price translates to decent gains for those investors, part of a group that had collectively put $1.8 billion in the company in the past two years, at a price of $15.36 a share. They appeared to be in danger of showing a loss in recent days, when the company proposed to sell stock at between $14 and $16 a share. But at the opening price, Fidelity, which has reported a $200 million investment in Snap in securities filings, is now showing a gain of $113 million, or 56%.