One day after Roblox stock was reported to go public a couple of weeks ago, but it finally opened its doors to the public this afternoon. Many had expected the stock to go live as the market opened at 9:30 AM ET or at noon, but it didn't go live until much later in the afternoon.
The Roblox stock sale has been highly-anticipated as of late and it's one of the most valued companies in gaming. Roblox is valued at a whopping $47 billion and it's just a company that only has one game. For comparison, EA is valued at $37 billion and Microsoft bought Bethesda for $7.5 billion. Roblox makes these giant developers/publishers look like they're worth pennies by comparison. The stock had a lot of hype surrounding it given how popular and well-monetized Roblox actually is. The game is similar to Minecraft and allows players to play a variety of custom games, as well as create their own content. Players are even allowed to sell their content, creating a marketplace for Roblox content. This has made it an incredibly lucrative investment for many.
The Roblox stock was initially listed at an estimated $45 and jumped to $65 within seconds of going live to the public. At its peak, the company's stock hit an impressive $74.55, but trickled back down to a $69.50 closing price with a 54% gain (via GameStop's incredibly chaotic stock battle. GameStop almost hit $350 today but got hit hard, flying down to $180 at its lowest, but quickly came back up to a closing price of $265. The GameStop stock closed above its previous close of $246.90, but its gains weren't nearly as impressive given the strong decline.
After hours, notable investors like Cathie Wood bought in, which raised the price to $70.30 in the after-hours market. Whether or not the stock will rocket up throughout the week or stay steady remains to be seen. There continues to be a lot of hype around it and with investors like Wood investing, it bodes well for the Roblox stock. There's also the chance that there are Roblox employees holding stock that will sell off once it hits a higher price, if they haven't already.
As GameStop attempts to rally following big changes potentially coming to the company, it could prove to be a challenge for Roblox. As attention is split between two high-interest stocks, it could directly impact both of them from hitting the strides they need to really succeed. Roblox reportedly previously delayed its stock after DoorDash and AirBnB went live in 2020 out of fear of getting overshadowed and while GameStop is more volatile, it's still distracting potential investors who are throwing lots of cash around.
Source: Barrons
