Birkenstock continued to look for — and not find — traction during its second day on the New York Stock Exchange.
Shares of the German sandal maker fell another 6.6 percent to $37.55 on Thursday.
That left the stock down 18.4 percent from its IPO price of $46.
The company is still worth a pretty penny with a market capitalization of $7.1 billion — where owner L Catterton was said to buy the company at around 4 billion euros in 2021.
And Birkenstock continues to be seen as a compelling story with growth in both sales and adjusted profits. But the stock decline signals that the wave of consumer IPOs that was hoped for in some corners just might not be ready to crest yet.
Among the companies that are seen as preparing for an offering are Kim Kardashian’s Skims, the Softbank-backed Vuori and the Permira-backed Golden Goose, among others.
Each company has its own story to tell, but it seems like they are stories that would be easier to tell later on when shoppers are on firmer ground.
The economy has held on better than most hoped this year, with consumers continuing to spend despite high interest rates and inflated prices, but the outlook is still clouded and more concerns are popping up across the spectrum.
Luxury leader LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton saw a revenue gain of just 1 percent in the third quarter after much stronger growth in the first half. Chief financial officer Jean-Jacques Guiony said it was too early to know if it was a lasting change. “Time will tell depending on the depth and the length of the cycle, whether it was a real cycle in consumption or merely sort of blip after three extraordinary years; obviously, consumers as well have to take a pause,” Guiony said.
But nobody wants to launch their company onto Wall Street during a pause.