Shares of Chewy Inc soared 63% in their public debut, giving the online pet products retailer a market value of $14.35 billion, more than four times the price PetSmart paid for it in 2017. The company's shares opened at $36.00 and rose as high as $41.34, compared with the IPO price of $22.00. The stock was up 56% at $34.20 in afternoon trading in a weak broader market.
Indicating solid investor appetite for a piece of the over $70 billion US pet market, the offering was priced higher than the expected range and parent PetSmart sold more shares than originally planned. The company had set a price range of $19 to $21 per share, which was raised earlier this week from $17 to $19 per share. Chewy raised $123.2 million from the offering and PetSmart, which is looking to pare its debt, will receive nearly $900 million.