LASE Stock Alert: Laser Photonics Plunges in IPO

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  • Laser Photonics (LASE) is not getting a friendly welcome on Wall Street, with LASE stock down about 40% so far on the day.
  • The company performs laser marking, cutting, engraving, and other processes for a number of different industries.
  • It’s also profitable and has solid growth, yet investors are not eager to gobble up the stock as the bear rolls on.
LASE stock - LASE Stock Alert: Laser Photonics Plunges in IPO

Shares of Laser Photonics (NASDAQ:LASE) are getting pummeled on Friday, despite making its public debut. Friday marked the initial public offering date for LASE stock, but it’s not getting a friendly greeting from Wall Street, down 38% from the open.

Rest assured, this is not the opening that the company was hoping for.

LASE stock began trading at $5 a share and traded as high as $5.50 on the day. That move came in the first few minutes after the stock opened for trading at 10:20 a.m. ET. Less than three hours later and the stock traded at a low of $2.78, down 49.5% from the high.

Laser Photonics — a Florida-based company that develops laser systems used for laser cutting, engraving and marking — offered 3 million shares at $5. Alexander Capital was the sole-booker runner on the day, while a 45-day option was granted to buy an additional 450,000 shares at the original IPO price.

It looks like that may be on hold for a while though, given today’s reaction to the IPO.

What to Make of LASE Stock Now

The company first filed for an IPO in November 2021 and was seeking $17 million at the time. Of course, the investing environment has changed significantly since then.

Back in November, all four major U.S. stock indices were hitting new all-time highs. Now, many indices are hitting or are near 52-week lows as a brutal bear market continues to wear on. Worse, “risk-on” assets like growth stocks and technology stocks have been hit disproportionately vs. other stocks, which makes a public debut even harder.

As for Laser Photonics, the company says it specializes in:

​High-tech laser systems for laser marking, laser cutting, laser engraving, and other material processing applications…used by manufacturers in the automotive, aerospace, industrial, defense, electronic, semiconductor, flat panel, and medical industries around the world.

As for LASE stock, investors are clearly in a “risk-off” mindset. Going public at the end of the quarter doesn’t help matters when it comes to volatility, either.

That said, the company does seem to have momentum. In the first half of 2022, Laser Photonics generated revenue of $2.56 million. That’s up more than 35% vs. the first half of 2021. The company is also profitable. So investors will have to decide if this one is worth speculating on given the volatility in the market.

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On the date of publication, Bret Kenwell did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2022/09/lase-stock-alert-laser-photonics-plunges-in-ipo/.

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