Porsche Makes a Spectacular Stock Market Debut, Surpassing Mercedes-Benz and BMW

Settled as 4th Largest Market Cap on First Trading Day

Oliver Blume, CEO of Porsche (right), and Lutz Meschke, CFO, rang the opening bell on the 29th (local time) to mark the opening of the Frankfurt event in Germany. (Photo by Reuters)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Porsche, which debuted on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Germany, secured the position of the 4th largest global automaker by market capitalization on its first day of trading, surpassing Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

On the 29th (local time), Porsche, a sports car brand under the German Volkswagen Group, closed at 82.82 euros, up 0.34% from the IPO price of 82.50 euros, despite a weak market.

Porsche's stock price surged to 86.76 euros during the day but fell back following news that Germany's consumer prices in September rose by 10%, the largest increase in 70 years. On the same day, Germany's DAX index dropped 1.71% from the previous trading day to 11,976, falling below the 12,000 mark due to the inflation shock.

Based on the closing price, Porsche's market capitalization reached 75.4 billion euros, surpassing Mercedes-Benz (60 billion euros), BMW (50 billion euros), Stellantis (40 billion euros), and Ferrari (35 billion euros).

Excluding its parent company Volkswagen Group, Porsche ranks 4th among global automakers by market capitalization, following Tesla in the U.S., Toyota in Japan, and BYD in China.

Porsche's IPO, which raised 9.4 billion euros, is reported to be the largest in Europe since mining company Glencore raised 10 billion dollars through its London IPO in 2011.

Bloomberg reported, "Despite companies avoiding IPOs amid Europe's energy crisis, aggressive interest rate hikes, and record inflation, Porsche boldly went public," adding, "This IPO will help Volkswagen secure the funds needed to accelerate its transition to electric vehicles."

Volkswagen, which is closely chasing Tesla in electric vehicle sales in Europe, increased its pure electric vehicle investment from 35 billion euros to 52 billion euros earlier this year.

Oliver Blume, CEO of both Volkswagen and Porsche, said, "Today is a historic day for Porsche," adding, "The market's initial response is very positive and demonstrates our potential."

Volkswagen's IPO includes newly issued preferred shares and existing common shares, totaling 911 million shares, commemorating Porsche's iconic model, the 911.

According to data compiled by Bloomberg, funds raised through IPOs this year have not even reached 10 billion dollars (as of the end of August), representing an 83% decrease compared to the same period last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.