Petco soars 73% in first day of trading after raising $817 million (WOOF)

<p><img src="https://static5.businessinsider.com/image/60007d30a81ea100188db3e5-2005/petco store.jpg" border="0" alt="petco store" data-mce-source="AP Photo/Tony Dejak" data-link="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/AP-F-OH-USA-PETCO-BUYOUT/a53de6a86913db11af9f0014c2589dfb/36/0"></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><ul><li><strong>Petco soared as much as 73% in its first day of trading on Thursday.</strong></li><li><strong>The pet-centric retailer raised $817 million in its IPO debut after its shares priced at $18.</strong></li><li><strong>The IPO frenzy has continued into 2021 following the trading debut surges of Affirm and PoshMark.</strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/10-things-opening-bell'utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest'utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest'utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest'utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/10-things-opening-bell" data-sk="tooltip_parent" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-4053">Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell</a>.&nbsp;</strong></li></ul><hr><p><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/woof-stock">Petco</a> soared in its first day of trading on Thursday, leaping as much as 72% in initial trades after raising $817 million in proceeds. The company <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/petco-announces-pricing-of-initial-public-offering-301208015.html">priced its IPO at $18 per share</a> and sold 48 million shares.</p><p>The Pet Care company operates about 1,470 pet-care centers that sell food, toys, and supplies for a range of pets. The company also offers proffessional services like grooming, vet care and pet training.&nbsp;</p><p>Thursday's IPO marks a return to the public markets for Petco. The company was acquired by CVC Capital Partners in 2015 for $4.6 billion. CVC will continue to own 67% of the company.</p><p>The strong debut of Petco is a continued signal the the IPO frenzy of late 2020 is spilling over into 2021. On Wednesday, Affirm soares more than 100% following its trading debut. <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/affirm-stock-price-extends-post-ipo-surge-public-trading-debut-2021-1-1029969869">The online installment lender is up 160%</a> in just a two-day period. Online retailer Poshmark also soared 150% on Thursday in its first day of trading.&nbsp;</p><p>On top of the investor hype towards IPOs in recent months, the timing could be good for Petco's public return to the markets as <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stocks-buy-covid19-pet-boom-bofa-strategy-coronavirus-adoption-benefit-2020-9-1029620693">the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in pet ownership in the US.&nbsp;</a></p><p>Petco is listed on the Nasdaq Exchange under the ticker symbol "WOOF."</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cathie-wood-shares-2021-outlooks-on-tesla-economy-bitcoin-ark-2021-1'utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cathie Wood's ARK Invest runs 5 active ETFs that more than doubled in 2020. She and her analysts share their 2021 outlooks on the economy, bitcoin, and Tesla.</a></em></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/petco-stock-price-ipo-first-day-trading-raised-817-million-2021-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-gucci-clothes-racist-blackface-sambo-2019-2">Why these Gucci clothes are racist</a></p>
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