The IPO stock Circle vaulted 168% on Thursday as the stablecoin issuer made its long-awaited debut. Cathie Wood loaded up on shares on launch day. Her ARK Invest firm trimmed positions in Robinhood, Coinbase and Block.
Wood and ARK Invest purchased a total of 4.48 million shares of Circle stock on Thursday, according to daily trade updates from the firm. The group added 3.03 shares to its flagship ARK Innovation ETF. Wood purchased 927,318 shares for the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF, and 534,153 for the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF.
The shares of Circle were worth $373.4 million based on the Thursday closing price of 83.23. Wood and ARK Invest had previously indicated an interest in buying around $150 million of CRCL stock ahead of the IPO, according to reports.
Circle IPO
Circle Internet Group officially went public on Thursday and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CRCL. The $31 IPO price had put Circle's market capitalization in the ballpark of $6.9 billion.
Shares opened at 69 and peaked at 103.75 on Thursday, with the early spike triggering a temporary circuit breaker trading stop. Shares closed at 83.23 on Thursday, marking about a 168% gain on the day.
The stablecoin issuer on Wednesday announced that it raised nearly $1.1 billion after selling 34 million shares at $31 per share. The IPO price was increased from its prior upwardly revised range of $27 to $28 per share. At that time, Circle and its underwriters planned to sell 32 million shares.
Circle also granted underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 5.1 million shares of stock.
Circle issues USD Coin, the second-largest stablecoin, often referred to as USDC. USDC represents about 24% of the total stablecoin market cap, trailing only Tether at around 60%, according to data from crypto exchange Kraken.
As of March 31, USDC had $60.1 billion in circulation across 4.9 million wallets.
Stablecoins are crypto tokens intended to hold their value at a certain price point, usually $1, and are backed by another asset.
Cathie Wood, ARK Trim Holdings
Wood's ARK Invest also sold a total of 161,304 shares of Coinbase stock across all three of the previously-mentioned funds. The shares were worth $39.39 million based on Coinbase's 244.20 closing price on Thursday.
Wood and ARK unloaded 255,327 shares of Robinhood stock, worth $18.51 million based on Thursday's close of 72.51.
Block was another large sale from Thursday. ARK sold 163,380 shares worth $10.39 million based on the 63.60 close.
Wood also sold 168,675 shares of the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, worth about $17.14 million based on its 101.62 closing price on Thursday.
Stock Action
Circle stock rallied another 29.4% Friday.
Coinbase stock swung 2.9% higher Friday. COIN stock retreated 4.6% on Thursday. Shares are holding above their 200-day line.
Robinhood climbed 3.3% Friday, on track for six consecutive daily gains if the move holds. HOOD stock has rallied almost 101% this year.
Block stock rose 2.2%. Shares are about 9% from their 200-day line.
The ARK 21Share Bitcoin ETF and other spot bitcoin ETFs advanced 2.4% Friday as bitcoin traded around $104,000. Shares of the group have retreated from their respective buy zones after attempting to break out in late May.
When trading IPOs, investors are smart to wait for a proper entry — principally a breakout from an IPO base — rather than buying without a chart pattern. Sell signals can happen quickly with new issues. Remember to sell if a stock falls more than 7% below your purchase price.
You can follow Harrison Miller for more stock news and updates on X/Twitter @IBD_Harrison
