Topline
Shares of luxury cruise operator Viking Holdings—the parent company of Viking cruise line—rose as much as 12% in intraday trading Wednesday following the company’s initial public offering, which raised $1.54 billion following the company’s decision to upsize the number of shares offered in its public debut.
Key Facts
Viking Holdings shares began trading at $24 under the ticker “VIK” and jumped as high as $26.78 before dropping to $26.10 by close—up 9% on the day.
Viking’s opening price gave it an $11.3 billion market value, with the cruise operator closing the day with a $1.4 billion market cap.
Viking’s $1.54 billion IPO rivals Amer Sports Inc. as the largest IPO in the U.S. this year, according to Bloomberg, noting Viking’s offering will beat Amer’s $1.57 billion IPO if its underwriters exercise their ability to allow the sale of additional shares.
The IPO also makes Viking the third-largest cruise operator behind Royal Caribbean and Carnival, which both traded down a fraction of a percent Wednesday.
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Big Number
$7,251. That’s Viking’s revenue per passenger, which is significantly higher than other publicly traded cruise lines, according to CNBC.
Key Background
The IPO comes a day after Viking upsized its IPO, offering more than 64 million shares at a public offering price of $24. The decision to do so was made after existing shareholders decided to sell 9 million shares, which were not initially set to be part of the IPO, amid strong demand from mutual fund investors, CNBC reported, citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter. Viking reported $4.7 billion in revenue and $1.8 billion in net losses in 2023. However, the cruise line operator may be able to capitalize on an improving outlook for the global cruise market, which was valued at $7.25 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow around 11% by 2028. Viking, a cruise operator geared toward adults with high income, operates 92 vessels and has more than 10,000 employees.
Further Reading
Cruise Industry Continues Strong Growth Post-Covid (Forbes)
Viking shares rise more than 10% after cruise line operator’s market debut (CNBC)
