Krispy Kreme climbs 11% in public debut during the busiest IPO week since 2004

Krispy Kreme climbs 11% in public debut during the busiest IPO week since 2004

Climbed as much as 11.7% to $19.00 per share during its trading debut on Thursday. The doughnut shop franchise opened at $16.30, lower than its IPO price, but then pared back losses. Shares were trading around $18.50 as of Wednesday 1:05 p.m. ET. Krispy Kreme raised $500 million by offering 29.4 million shares at $17, below the expected range of $21-$24. The company offered 2.7 million more shares than anticipated. At pricing, the company commanded a fully diluted market value of $2.9 billion. That valuation was likely too high, according to David Trainer, CEO of investment research firm New Constructs. "We think the stock is worth no more than $1.6 billion, which is slightly higher than the $1.35 billion JAB Holdings paid to take Krispy Kreme private in 2016. With this IPO, we believe JAB Holdings is looking to cash out at the expense of new investors," Trainer said in a recent note. The analyst said that Krispy Kreme faces obstacles such as competition from larger food incumbents like Wendy's and a shift in consumer preferences toward healthier foods. "Dough-Not buy this overpriced IPO" was the title of his research report. Krispy Kreme is one of 18 companies to hit