Jumia, an Africa-focused e-commerce platform, was the first-ever startup from Africa to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
The IPO in April 2019 was greeted with excitement but some people argued that Jumia was not truly African.
After initially jumping to trade at almost $47 a share – three times the listing price of $14.50 – as predicted, Jumia shares started falling following data-misrepresentation allegations by Citron Research, a known short stock seller.
The shares fell below the IPO price, reaching at an all-time low of $11.49 on Aug. 12, and losing 35.6 percent of their value in July alone, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
As of this writing, Jumia shares are slightly above the listing price at $14.99.
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Claims by two law firms that Jumia was under investigation and planning a class-action lawsuit against the e-commerce startup have also weighed on the stock prices with negative sentiment among investors.
The share price slide is, however, in line with the larger S&P 500 index decline in recent weeks in the wake of President Donald Trump’s trade war with China.
There are predictions that Jumia shares could recover to “outperform” the market depending on its earnings outlook.
Zacks Investment Research predicted that Jumia Technologies AG could post $44.52 million in sales for the current fiscal quarter with full-year sales of $221.37 million rising to $371.21 in the next year.
Jumia is set to announce its next quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Wednesday, Aug. 21.
The stock remains below its IPO price and is trading in the $13.50 range.
Morgan Stanley seems to be bullish on the price of Jumia shares, based on a May 7 price prediction that showed the shares could jump back to $27 each.
