Aston Martin: Love It or Short It
The luxury carmaker will be a stock that polarizes opinion.
Andy Palmer, the carmaker’s CEO, poses with a DB5.
Photographer: Luke MacGregor/BloombergAston Martin’s initial public offering is already running on empty. Shares of the luxury carmaker fell 6 percent in their London debut on Wednesday. Take it as proof that this is a highly divisive stock that will acquire a sizable following of short sellers.
There had apparently been more than enough interest in Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Plc for its bankers to sell 25 percent of the company at 19 pounds a share, giving the business a market value of 4.3 billion pounds ($5 billion). But having buyers for more than twice the stock available is no guarantee an IPO will do well. Investors have a nasty habit of requesting more shares than they really want, conscious they may get less than they ask for.