Online pet product retailer Chewy is having a stellar first day on the stock market

A pet store, which may soon become obsolete, thanks to Chewy.

(Image credit: iStock.)

last updated 14 June 2019

Chewy's IPO day has been a total nailbiter for its competitors.

On Friday, the online pet product retailer debuted on the New York Stock ExchangeY with a $22 initial public offering. That was above the $19-21 range Chewy's IPO was expected to debut at, but its shares still surged another 85 percent upon opening before stabilizing around $34 for the rest of the day.

Chewy was founded in 2011 and acquired by PetSmart six years later for $3.35 billion. It has yet to turn a profit, losing $268 million from 2017 to 2018. Still, its $22 IPO put its valuation at $8.8 billion at the end of Thursday. And when those shares' prices rocketed up 60 percent to open at $36, its valuation shot to $14.3 billion, CNN notes. Stocks even hit a peak of $41.06 at 11:25 a.m. before steadying.

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Experts credit Chewy's successful IPO base to its $3.5 billion in sales last year, which were up 68 percent from the year before, CNBC reports. Chewy will likely continue to capitalize on the growing pet product market, which expanded by $3 billion from 2017 to 2018 and is expected to do the same in 2019, hitting an estimated $75.38 billion, per the American Pet Products Association. Chewy still faces competition from General Mills, which recently bought pet food brand Blue Buffalo, and from Amazon.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.

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