Reddit, the self-anointed ‘front page of the internet,’ soars in Wall Street debut WSOC TV [Video]

NEW YORK — (AP) — Reddit’s stock soared in its Wall Street debut as investors pushed the value of the company close to $9 billion seconds after it began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Reddit, which priced its IPO at $34 a share, debuted Thursday afternoon at $47 a share. At the close of trading, it was up 48% at $50.44, backing off a peak of $57.80.

“This volatility is not surprising because there has been a lot of buzz around Reddit,” Reena Aggarwal, director of Georgetown University’s Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy, noted.

When Reddit’s price initially jumped, she explained, some investors who got an allocation may have sold their shares to cash in on the gains, bringing it back down. She noted that this could to continue in the stock’s early days.

Reddit’s IPO will test the quirky company’s ability to overcome a nearly 20-year history colored by uninterrupted losses, management turmoil …