Uber is tanking after logging the biggest first-day dollar loss in US IPO history

Reuters/Andrew Kelly

• Uber shares fell early Monday after the ride-hailing giant suffered through a brutal initial public offering on Friday, which saw the biggest first-day dollar loss in US IPO history.
• The broader US markets were under pressure Monday as investors grappled with renewed trade tensions between the US and China.
• Watch Uber trade live.

Uber shares plunged by nearly 7% early Monday after Friday's initial public offering cost investors billions.

The ride-hailing giant, which went public on Friday, six weeks after its rival Lyft, sputtered to a 7.6% loss in its stock market debut, wiping out $655 billion of investor wealth. When the dust settled, it was the biggest first-day dollar loss in US IPO history, according to an analysis from Jay Ritter, a professor at the University of Florida.

Prior to Uber's loss, the largest first-day dollar loss was during the dot-com bubble of two decades ago. Genuity, an internet company spun out of Verizon, lost $277 million its first day.

Investors were watching Uber's debut on the New York Stock Exchange closely after it priced at $45 a share, giving it a market capitalization of $75.5 billion. That was well below the $120 billion valuation that was floated in October.

Longer-term, investors are keen to see whether Uber will suffer the same fate as its smaller competitor Lyft. Its shares have been in a free-fall since debuting in late March, trading down 29% from its IPO price of $72.

Read more: Lyft is tanking as Uber gets ready to make its stock-market debut

Uber's IPO comes at a turbulent moment in the financial markets, as an escalation in the US-China trade war has fueled a fresh wave volatility that rocked markets last week and weighed on sentiment Monday morning. The uncertainty around US-China trade relations took a toll on Friday.

"While it might be easy to call out 'market conditions' for these failings, the unvarnished truth is that these declines represent a fundamental disconnect between public and private valuations," Nicholas Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research, wrote in a note to clients on Monday about Uber and Lyft's poor performances.

While the market doesn't necessarily "care" about newly public companies turning a profit, Colas said, it does want to see operating cash flow, of which Uber and Lyft are "dramatically short."

Meanwhile, Lyft shares were down 3% early Monday, poised to open at a record low near $49.40.

Read more Uber coverage from Markets Insider and Business Insider:

Uber is going public at an initial market cap of $75.5 billion. Here's how that stacks up.

Meet Austin Geidt, the Uber exec whose life is the stuff of Silicon Valley legend, who joined the company as an intern in 2010, got sober at age 20, and just rang the company's IPO bell

Stalled out: Why the rush of IPOs from big, unprofitable companies like Uber and Lyft could throw the entire market off track

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