Spotify attracts all ages, not just millennials
NEW YOR K • The buzzy debut of Spotify Technology SA on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday drew retail investors across generations, not just the millennials who make up the largest proportion of the music streaming service’s customer base, retail brokerages said on Wednesday.
Spotify’s listing was hotly followed, as it went public via the unusual method of a direct listing, without selling new shares. There was demand for the stock, and shares ended up 12.9 per cent on their first day of trade on the New York Stock Exchange. On Wednesday, the shares ended the day’s session at US$ 145.87, down 2.1 per cent from Tuesday’s close.
Social media platform Snap Inc’s high- profile IPO last year had been notable for being popular with Millennials, the primary user base f or t he company ’ s mobile app Snapchat. But though millennials are also a key demographic for Spotify, the Swedish company’s listing did not draw disproportionate interest from that generation.
Demand was seen across age groups, according to brokerages Fidelity and TD Ameritrade.
“There’s good i nterest in it,” said J. J. Kinahan, TD Ameritrade’s chief market strategist, who is based in Chicago. “It’s pretty well split across age groups.”
Fidelity said among its customers, baby boomers were slightly more active in trading Spotify shares than millennials or members of generation X. Baby boomers made nearly one-third more trades than millennials and 20 per cent more trades than members of generation X. A similar pattern holds for other tech IPOs, a Fidelity spokesman said.
Retail i nvestor behaviour indicated some caution about jumping in.
On StockTwits, a social media platform whose users are mostly retail investors, only 40 per cent of members were bullish on Spotify ahead of the debut. Negative sentiment toward the IPO rose as the date approached and the expected trading price climbed, said Pierce Crosby, StockTwits director of business development, based in New York.
“Our community is as bearish as they’ve ever been (about Spotify),” Crosby said.
High-profile IPOs of companies associated with the tech sector have had a mixed track record in the past year. Shares of MuleSoft Inc and Roku Inc, which went public in March 2017 and September 2017, respectively, have climbed more than 100 per cent since those companies’ IPOs. On the other hand, shares of Snap and Blue Apron Holdings Inc have fallen below their IPO prices.