McAfee’s Dismal Return to Public Market: The Information’s Tech Briefing

It’s a reflection of the strength of the IPO market that tech companies with less-than-stellar growth are managing to go public. Today, for instance, shares of cybersecurity firm McAfee began trading—its second stint on the public market, coming a decade after being acquired by Intel. It was not a happy return.

McAfee shares fell 6.5% from their IPO price. That shouldn’t have been a surprise, given the company's anemic growth history. In its IPO filing, it notes that revenue has grown from $1.9 billion in 2011 to only $2.6 billion in 2019. Last year, it grew another 9% from 2018.