The Most Successful IPO Of 2023 Destroys Wealth Post Debut Day

The most successful IPO of 2023, which saw trading suspended 19 different times because of excessive volatility, saw gravity after an eye-popping 600% gain on debut.

Seeing the shares surge over 600% in the first day of trading and having the biggest IPO of 2023 might match the excitement of going public itself. Golf club maker Sacks-Parente Golf Inc. experienced that on the opening day.

Sacks-Parente Golf manufactures high-end golf-putters with proprietary technology that the company says help golfers hole more putts. The debut saw the share price rocketing to $29 versus a start price of $4 per share, which is a 624% jump in share value. Mind you, this came on a day where Sacks-Parente trading was suspended 19 different times because of excessive volatility.

After surging 624% Tuesday upon making their public debut, shares of Sacks-Parente finished the week sharply below their initial public offering price of $4. The stock gave back most of that rally with an 85% plunge Wednesday, and by Thursday had already tumbled below the IPO price. As of close on Friday, the stock was trading at $1.63 per share. That an overall decline of 94% from the highs of $30 per share on opening day. Its pretty certain that it remains unclear as to what drove the frenzied interest in Sacks Parente’s stock on its first day as a public company.

In this backdrop, the IPO made a lot of money for early buyers, but while everyone would have touted the original investors who invested at the pre-IPO stage when shares may have been available for pennies on the dollar as the real winners, it turns out that those few people who may have traded intraday would be the ones grinning, while the original investors, even if would be in the money and licking their chops at the end of day one, would now be only lamenting the 'what if' situation.

Niraj Shah is the Executive Editor at BQ Prime.