Maker of $400 Golf Putter Poised to End Week Below $4 IPO After Record Debut

(Bloomberg) — Sacks Parente Golf Inc. ended its first week of trading lower, just days after notching the best debut of an initial public offering on a US stock exchange this year.

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Shares fell 20% Friday, the third straight day of declines, pushing the weekly loss to 37%. The slump has also erased all gains from Tuesday’s 624% jump. The golf company closed Friday at $2.51, well below its $4 IPO price.

The seesaw action is reminiscent of a “pop-and-drop” trend found in small IPOs last year, where micro-cap listings saw huge gains in their trading debuts that quickly collapsed, according to Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital.

“In a typical IPO, it would be bizarre for a company to price at the low end of its range and then pop 600%,” Kennedy said by phone, referring to Sacks Parente’s first day of trading.

But the $400 putter maker’s first week shows that “there’s still a sub-segment of the IPO market where the casino is open,” he said.

Read more: Peddler of $400 Putters Becomes 2023’s Best IPO With a 624% Gain

Kennedy added that while pop-and-drops have been less frequent for IPOs this year, there’s one other newly public company that has seen similar volatile price swings.

VinFast Auto Ltd., which debuted this week via a special purpose acquisition company merger, skyrocketed 255% on its first day of trading on Tuesday, pushing the electric-vehicle maker’s market capitalization above those of General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. Shares have since plunged, erasing more than 58% since Tuesday’s close.

Read more: Vietnam Tycoon Loses $23 Billion After Wild EV Stock Debut

(Updates stock moves at market close)