Uber Picks Up Bull Note on IPO Day

Uber stock's IPO priced at $45 per share

The big day is finally here. Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) began trading on the Big Board today, after pricing its initial public offering (IPO) at $45 per share Thursday, valuing the ride-hailing icon at around $82 billion. At around noon today, Uber began trading at $42, 6.7% below the IPO price. As the event unfolds, there's been a lot to unpack.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wants to emulate Amazon.com (AMZN) which was famously unprofitable at its IPO, according to an interview with CNBC. Khosrowshahi noted, "It's a fair comparison at the wrong time. So a lot of private companies now are holding off much longer before they go public. We are much bigger, much more mature as a company as we go public." The CEO also hoped that 2019 would Uber's peak year of losses, saying "that would be our intention, although there can't be any guarantee."

The stock has already received plenty of analyst attention. Atlantic Equities and D.A. Davidson doled out "neutral" ratings last week, with the former citing its preference for Uber over sector peer Lyft (LYFT). Also, Wedbush started UBER off with an "outperform" rating and $65 price target, calling the company's conservative pricing "smart and prudent" and learning from its "one-trick pony little brother" Lyft. Today, Zephirin Group initiated coverage with a "buy" rating and $68 price target, the highest on Wall Street.