Wolfspeed (WOLF) had its initial public offering back in February 1993. At the time, the company was known as "Cree" -- and its primary focus was light-emitting-diode (LED) technologies. The LED lighting business was sold off in 2021, and the company has since pivoted to silicon-carbide (SiC) semiconductor technologies for power modules and other applications.
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Unfortunately, Wolfspeed's pivot to the SiC space has been marked by a series of substantial challenges. Demand in the electric vehicle market and other categories has wound up being weaker than expected, and disruptions to the company's scaling trajectory have meant that the company's margins failed to improve along previously projected timelines. Wolfspeed filed for preliminary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections at the end of June, but investors who bought at the company's IPO would still be modestly in the green on their investment.
What would 1,000 shares of Wolfspeed stock bought on IPO day be worth now?
On the day of its 1993 IPO, Wolfspeed stock closed at a split-adjusted price of roughly $1.22 per share. As of this writing, the stock is trading at $1.37 per share. That means that an investment of $1,220 on the day of the company's IPO more than three decades ago would now be worth roughly $1,370 -- a gain of just 12%.
Wolfspeed's gains across that stretch aren't even close to offsetting inflation over the same period. For another point of comparison, the S&P 500 index has delivered a total return of roughly 2,570% since the company had its public market debut. Wolfspeed stock is down roughly 98% over the last five years, and the outlook isn't promising.
As part of its bankruptcy proceedings, Wolfspeed will be going through a corporate restructuring that wipes out significant portions of its debt but transfers ownership of its assets to a new corporate entity. Shareholders of the company's current common stock are slated to receive between 3% and 5% of the value of the new company, but that could wind up being worth significantly less than the company's current share price.
