Shares of Oscar Health closed down 10.7% after the company’s initial public offering Wednesday.
The stock began trading at $36 per share and closed at $34.80 on the New York Stock Exchange. Oscar had priced its shares at $39 apiece, above its target range of $36 to $38. At $36 per share, it has a roughly $7.1 billion market cap.
Oscar uses a mix of technology, provider partnerships and member experience to try to make health insurance pricing clearer for patients, while giving doctors more flexible payment models. Joshua Kushner, the brother of former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, CEO Mario Schlosser and Kevin Nazemi (no longer with the company) founded the New York-based company in 2012.
The company said in its filing to go public that it has 529,000 members across 18 states. It competes against health giants such as UnitedHealth and CVS Health’s Aetna, but previously told CNBC it believes it can succeed through its focus on customer service and technology.
Oscar’s market debut comes amid strong interest in virtual health companies, as Americans seek alternatives to more traditional brick-and-mortar care.
“Covid, in my view, has had an accelerated impact in shifting the healthcare system more to what’s consumerization, to what’s virtual, and to what’s more risk sharing with providers and payers,” Schlosser told CNBC’s “Squawk Alley” before the company’s first trade. “Oscar we sort of designed the company to be at the forefront of all three of these.”
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic boosting business for a number of health companies, Oscar’s net loss widened to $406.8 million in 2020 from $261.2 million in 2019.
Its investors include Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Google-parent Alphabet, Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst and Fidelity. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Allen & Company, and Wells Fargo led the offering.
Oscar is a four-time CNBC Disruptor 50 company, most recently ranked No. 12 in 2018. It trades under the ticker OSCR.
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Source: Business - cnbc.com
