Shares of Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT) retreated from most of their gains in the company's first full day of trading,
The stock of the Swedish music-streaming company, which listed directly on the market instead of a traditional initial public offering, opened at $165.90 Tuesday, a 25% increase from the reference price of $132. They closed at US$144.22.
READ: Investors stream into Spotify; shares surge 25% in US trading debut
When the market opened this morning, the shares were at $140, down 16% from Tuesday's opening price.
Today the shares traded in a range between $145.99 and $135.51.
Spotify, one of the top music-streaming services along with Pandora Media (NYSE:P) and Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AAPL) Apple Music, has not turned a profit. It has been hampered by the high cost attached to licensing content and as it pays royalties to the artists featured on the platform.
Twitter users weighed in on Spotify's first full day of trading:
Spotify’s decision to list shares without a roadshow or meetings with institutional investors is another huge red flag. It is basically saying to the world: Don’t ask us any questions about how our business is doing.
— Ted Gioia (@tedgioia) February 28, 2018
$Spot opens up $28 to $160 giving it a huge valuation. Bigger than $Snap and $twtr Sit tight here, don't chase this stock. We like #Spotify but its not worth $30 bil. #IPO
— Ross Gerber (@GerberKawasaki) April 3, 2018
Apple Music has been tough competition for Spotify. Canadian artist The Weeknd released his latest album, My Dear Melancholy, over the weekend. The artist sent his 16.8mln followers directly to Spotify via his Instagram account to watch two exclusive videos.
Despite the direct traffic, the album’s lead single “Call Out My Name” was streamed 6mln times on Apple Music, compared with 3.5mln times on Spotify, according to a report by The Verge.