Krispy Kreme Ends First Trading Day At $21 After Opening Above $16

Amid the busiest week this year to date for U.S. initial public offerings (IPOs), doughnut company Krispy Kreme began trading at $16.30 per share, CNBC reported.

Krispy Kreme was trading with the “DNUT” ticker symbol on the Nasdaq. Shares of the firm were changing hands at $21 at the market close Thursday (July 1).

The offering provided Krispy Kreme with a $2.7 billion implied valuation and brought in $500 million for the firm, according to CNBC.

Krispy Kreme had set a $17 per share price for its IPO, CNBC reported. The firm is also the owner of Insomnia Cookies and initially reached the public markets a little over two decades ago. But JAB Holding took the firm private in 2016.

“The transformation that this company has done in the last five years has been incredible,” Krispy Kreme CEO Mike Tattersfield told CNBC, noting that the firm has worked on its culture and brand.

PYMNTS reported in June that Krispy Kreme was aiming to land in the range of $560 million and $640 million at a near $4 billion valuation as it proceeds with its IPO.

The firm was anticipating to sell approximately 26.7 million shares priced in the range of $21 to $24 a share. It had confidentially filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in May.

Krispy Kreme, which is based in North Carolina, had a banner year in 2020, powered partially by the public’s demand for sugary treats amid the pandemic restrictions.

To that end, the firm sold 1.3 billion doughnuts in 30 nations during fiscal 2020, and recorded $1.1 billion in net revenues, the most since it rolled out in the late 1930s. Approximately 64 percent of the firm’s doughnut sales in 2020 were Original Glazed.

Dunkin’, a Krispy Kreme competitor, was taken private in 2020 after being purchased for $11.3 billion by Inspire Brands, a restaurant chain owner.

In separate IPO news, Chinese ridesharing company Didi Global began trading at $16.65 per share Wednesday (June 30). The firm had priced its shares at $14.