China’s Netflix-like video platform iQiyi dips on Nasdaq debut

(Reuters) – Shares of Chinese streaming platform iQiyi Inc fell below their initial public offering (IPO) price in the stock’s market debut on Thursday, even as the technology sector rebounded from a sharp sell-off ahead of the Good Friday holiday weekend.

The company, which is majority-owned by Chinese internet search firm Baidu Inc , had opened at $18.20, slightly ahead of the $18 IPO price, but the stock quickly pared gains.

The IPO of the Netflix-like video platform priced on Wednesday in the middle of its $17-$19 per share estimate, generating proceeds of $2.25 billion.

Chief Executive Gong Yu shrugged off any concerns over fluctuations in the stock price.

“We are not concerned with short-term volatility,” Gong said in an interview at the Nasdaq. “Long term, you’ll see how much value the IPO creates.”

Major U.S. stock indexes rose more than 1 percent on Thursday ahead of the Good Friday holiday weekend that will mark the end of a turbulent quarter for Wall Street.

(Reporting by Joshua Franklin and Sheila Dang in New York; Editing by Richard Chang)