Snap initial public offering above expected range

NEW YORK. - Snap priced its public offering at $ 17 a share on Wednesday, two sources told CNBC, and the company later confirmed in a press release.

At 200 million shares, Snap will have raised $ 3,4 billion and will be valued at nearly $ 24 billion.

The IPO is 12 times oversubscribed, t he sources said, meaning t hat t here were 12 times more orders for than there were shares offered.

Some managers told CNBC they got as little as 2 percent of what t hey were asking for.

The IPO is 12 times oversubscribed, sources said Thursday morning, meaning that there were 12 t i mes more orders for t han t here were shares offered.

Some managers told CNBC t hey as l it t le as 2 percent of what t hey were asking for.

Sources had told CNBC earlier t his week t hat i nvestors were expecting a pricing of $ 17 to $ 18 per share, above the $ 14 to $ 16 per share range originally given by the company.

The pricing and high demand reflect what Wall Street’ s top investment firms think about the stock, and telegraph show the year’s most anticipated I PO might fare in t he public market yesterday.

It could take anywhere from 20 minutes to two and a half hours toge tan I PO trading, NYSE Group President Tom Farley told CNBC’s “Squawk on t he Street” yesterday.

“This whole group of brokers, they’re communicating with a broader set of investors,” Farley said.

“We won’t open just because people want us to open, or at a particular deadline. We’ll take as long as it takes to have that price iteration slow down so you can have a smooth open.”

The company behind Snapchat — an ephemeral photo messaging app t hat’s viral among teens — has presented investors with some unique challenges.

It’s unclear how exactly t he California company plans to make a profit, especially with daily active user growth slowing.

Shareholders will also get negligible voting rights with t he stock.

But Snap, which will t rade on t he New York Stock Exchange under “SNAP,” is also one of t he few new growth opportunities to hit t he public market. While stock markets keep notching record highs, there have been a dearth of public offerings.

Proceeds from the US IPO market were only $ 18,8 billion last year, according to Renaissance Capital, down f rom $ 86,6 billion i n 2014.

Still, many companies price high and sell low, and vice versa. Facebook, for instance, saw shares seesaw on its f irst trading day, ending less than 1 percent higher. Since then, of course, Facebook found its footing, and has risen about 250 percent.

It hit an all- time high yesterday. - CNBC.