Israel’s WalkMe Stock Price Falls On First Day Of Trading

Digital adoption platform WalkMe closed at $28.81 on Wednesday, 7 percent below its IPO price.

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The Israel-based company raised $287 million through its IPO after pricing its shares at $31, the middle of the $29 to $32 price range it had set. At its IPO price, the company reached a valuation of $2.5 billion.

WalkMe’s platform helps organizations measure how their software investments are working for and benefiting them. As digital transformation accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, so did WalkMe’s growth. The company, which was founded in 2011, reported revenue of $148.3 million in 2020, up 41 percent from 2019’s $105.1 million. 

“What we saw during the pandemic was companies gearing up to this new normal,” CEO Dan Adika said in an interview. “We don’t believe most of the companies will go back to what they were. And if they are, they’ve discovered new opportunities to make the world more digital.”

WalkMe’s public debut was likely affected by news that the Federal Reserve increased its expectations for inflation, and that it could increase interest rates by 2023, rather than 2024. In addition, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 260 points. WalkMe Chief Financial Officer Andrew Casey acknowledged the news in an interview with Crunchbase News, noting that the Fed was “throwing cold water” on the market Wednesday. 

The company wanted to go public now to raise awareness for its category, according to Adika.

“The main reason was getting more acknowledgement of our category,” Adika said. “Creating a category is very challenging, and at the end of the day we got to a critical mass where we … can get to the next phase.”

Illustration: Li-Anne Dias