Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Call it spitting into the wind — or driving into the Lincoln Tunnel at 4pm on a Friday — but Phoenix Motor Cars plunged ahead with an IPO this week despite the obvious risks.
Why it matters: The EV startup's stock price (Nasdaq: PEV) this morning had plummeted roughly 50% since its debut 24 hours ago, the latest sign of just how rough it's gotten for public market fundraising.
The big picture: We've seen just 36 IPOs priced this year — a 78% drop from the same time last year, per data from Renaissance Capital.
- Proceeds raised have collapsed 93% to just $3.9 billion so far this year.
Driving the news: Phoenix makes electric drive systems and is developing light- and medium-duty EVs.
- The company Wednesday sought to raise $15.75 million, with an initial stock price of $7.50 per share.
- As of Thursday morning, the price was hovering just above $4 per share.
👀 Yes, and: The startup had already sought to temper expectations, last month slashing its fundraising target from $150 million to $20 million.
Of note: Phoenix is owned by SPI Energy (Nasdaq: SPI).
- The company had sold around 100 of its vehicles as of December.