Does anyone know when the date was that the IPO investors were allowed to exersise their shares at JBLU? and if so, did it falter like some predicted? Looks pretty good today. Up 2 and some change.
NEW YORK, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Shares in JetBlue Airways Corp (JBLU) fell over 15 percent amid a surge in trading as the so called lock-up period ended, allowing early shareholders to sell the stock.
The stock fell $5.62, or 15.7 percent, to $30.15 in heavy Wednesday trade, the lowest since it was priced at $27 last April 11 and surged by more than 50 percent in its trading debut.
Termination of the six-month lockup following airline's initial public offering frees venture capital backers and other early stage investors to sell close to 33 million shares, almost five times what was sold in the IPO.
Venture capital investors like J.P. Morgan New Air Investors LLC, Soros' Quantum Industrial Partners LDC, and BancBoston Ventures Inc. acquired more than half of the company's stock in late 1998 at $5.27 per share.
JetBlue spokesperson Amy Carpi wouldn't comment on whether backers like J.P. Morgan Chase & Co (JPM) and financier George Soros sold their stock.
About 7.5 million JetBlue shares were traded on the Nasdaq stock market, over twelve times the stock's average daily trading volume over the last 30 days.
The so-called lock up period ended on the 9th--the stock took a big hit (around 15%) but came back strong.
I'm betting that the institutional investors will engage in a bit of profit taking to offset the otherwise poor performance of the market in general.
For the short term, think we'll see a bit of variation in price for the next couple of weeks. Once the quarterly earnings statement is released (and I do not have access to that information right now...and if I did, I would wind up sharing a cell with Martha Stewart for insider trading..."Oh my, look what a wonderful table display we can make out of used toilet paper rolls and shivs!") the price will recover on its own.
For me, what's important to remember is that the stock price will reflect how well JetBlue does its job. Take care of the employees and they'll take care of the customers. Since I'm in the business for the long-term, I'll just continue to do the best job I can and the stock will take care of itself.
JBLU's IPO was on April 12, or thereabouts - it was one of the most successful IPOs in recent history. Only a very small amount of common stock is available, the company retains the large majority of ownership. Incredibly solid company, good earnings and profit potential. Their greatest challenge will be to maintain a consistent level of growth despite the industry. It's currently trading at 32.50 (up along with everything today) which is low for the stock itself but may still be a little overvalued. I think the best deals right now for airline stocks (which, by the way, are not the best investments typically) are probably Atlantic Coast (ACAI) and SkyWest (SKYW). Southwest (LUV) is also a pretty decent buy in the 12-14 dollar range, as is Delta (DAL) at around 8. If you do have a sudden erge to buy airline stocks, stop, hit yourself in the head, take a deep breath, and go on about your life.
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