ARM Holdings opened on the Nasdaq Thursday, changing hands at $56 each on its debut at $56.10 per share, capping the biggest IPO in more than two years for the U.K.-based chip designer.
ARM, which priced its $4.87 billion IPO at $51 a share late Wednesday, waited until late morning Thursday for its first trade, following indications it would open at around $58 per share earlier in the session.
Arm, which is owned by Japan's tech investing giant SoftBank, unveiled its original IPO pricing last week when it revealed a price range of between $47 and $51 per share, a level that would value the U.K-based firm at around $54.5 billon.
Arm said late Wednesday it would sell 95.5 million shares at $51 each and raise around $4.87 billion with SoftBank holding around 90.6% of Arm's ordinary shares upon completion.
The pricing makes Arm's listing on the Nasdaq the biggest IPO since Rivian Automotive in 2021, but still represent a significant reduction to the $64 billion valuation Arm carried earlier this year when SoftBank arranged to buy the 25% stake in the chipmaker that it didn't directly own from the Saudi Arabia-backed Vision Fund.
"The Arm IPO will be a test of AI mania (and) although it boasts a different business model to its peers like TSMC and Nvidia, Soft Bank is trying to raise funds at arguably the zenith of AI hype," said Kyle Rhodda, senior market analyst at Capital.com. "It will also be a major test of risk appetite and whether these high-growth, speculative companies still attract interest in a new world of higher interest rates.”
ARM shares were last marked 18% higher on the session and changing hands at $60.20 each, a price that would value the group at around $64.3 billion.
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