Hot IPOs Diverge: Mobileye Stays Warm, El Pollo Loco Cools Off

Investing

Published: August 4, 2014 12:55 pm

Last Updated: April 27, 2020 11:07 pm

With one exception, the first six trading days for El Pollo Loco Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LOCO) were an unqualified success. The share price rose on five of the six days and the stock price more than doubled from the first day of trading, from $19 to close last Friday at $41.20. Monday’s trading may mark the end of the stock’s rapid appreciation.

The other hot IPO of the past two weeks is Mobileye N.V. (NYSE: MBLY), which priced its shares at $25 last Thursday and began trading Friday at $36, before closing at $37.00. Shares were still rising Monday, although the pace has slowed considerably. Mobileye’s IPO was the largest ever for an Israel-based company on the U.S. equities market.

The momentum behind El Pollo Loco shares has dropped, as there is probably some profit-taking going. Volume remained high Monday, with more than 6 million shares traded by halfway through the noon hour, but average volume on the stock has been more than 18 million shares a day, so trading in the stock has cooled off with the falling share price. We could be seeing a drop in the number of investors who want to go long on the shares. It is likely that a floor will appear in the next day or so, and we will begin to see more buying again.

Trading in Mobileye has fallen from more than 36 million shares on Friday to around 8 million by midday Monday. Though the share price continues to rise, it dropped nearly 10% since hitting an intra-day high of $41.50. We have noted before that Mobileye depends on just three customers — General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM), Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) and BMW — for about 70% of its total revenues. That puts something of a limit on prospects for revenue growth.

At last check, shares of El Pollo Loco were trading down about 6.2%, at $38.66 in a post-IPO range of $18.48 to $41.70.

Mobileye’s shares traded up about 1.2%, at $37.25 in a range of $35.46 to $41.50.

ALSO READ: IPO Preview: ManU Secondary Tops List of Offerings

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