Changyou.com (CYOU) China IPO A Return to Glory Days

A couple weeks ago I highlighted the NIVS Intellimedia (NIV) IPO which brought back memories of the high ,flyin China IPO days of a couple years ago.  Considering the IPO market has been absolutely dead over the past year it was good to see a fast growing company come to market.  I still think that NIVS Intellimedia will take off any day now, particularly with the amount of momentum the China plays have been seeing so pay attention to it.

changyou.com cyou ipo While I was on vacation another China IPO hit the market – ChangYou.com (CYOU) which was a spinoff from Sohu (SOHU).  The developer of multi user role playing video games priced at $14 – $16/share on April 2nd and has been off to the races ever since, nearly doubling.  No way I’d be chasing this especially in this overbought market, but like NIVS Intellimedia it’s another one to put on your IPO radar.

The company really took off last year posting record revenues of about $200 million (a big pop after reporting revenues of $42 million in 2007), primarily from its martial arts game Tian Long Ba Bu which launched in May of 2007 and is the 3rd most popular online game in China.  The game is free but users must purchase a pre-paid game card used to upgrade characters by buying new weapons and other virtual goods.

Despite the massive growth of ChangYou.com, this is one IPO that carries considerable risk with 94% of its revenues coming from one game.  That being said, the growth is massive and any pull backs from lofty levels may offer a decent trading opportunity. 

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