{
  "id": 15700471,
  "title": "Elice shares plunge 28% on debut as investor doubts over AI trade deepen",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/20/elice-shares-plunge-28-on-debut-as-investor-doubts-over-ai-trade",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-20T04:02:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Investing.com",
    "slug": "investing-com",
    "url": "https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/elice-shares-plunge-28-on-debut-as-investor-doubts-over-ai-trade-deepen-4958744"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Shares of South Korean AI infrastructure firm Elice Group plummeted 28% in their market debut on Tuesday, as concerns over costly data center investments dampened investor enthusiasm despite robust demand for the company's initial public offering. The shares closed at 65,300 won, a 27.8% drop from their IPO price of 90,500 won, after opening at 75,700 won, a 16.4% discount. They hit their lowest point at 61,000 won, a 32.6% decline from the offer price. The IPO generated 201.1 billion won ($150 million). Elice set its share price at the top of the 70,400 to 90,500 won range, with institutional investors subscribing at 388.84 times the shares available and retail investors at 408.26 times, leading to over 10 trillion won in deposits. The disappointing opening was a blow for a firm that has grown from an AI education platform into cloud services, GPU-based data centers, and AI solutions for businesses. Elice intends to allocate most of its IPO funds to constructing data center infrastructure in South Korea and expanding internationally, particularly in the United States, Japan, and Singapore. The underwhelming debut is a challenge for a company that has invested heavily in AI infrastructure amid a surge in such ventures. However, the weak performance reflects growing investor skepticism about the high costs, capital-intensive nature, and uncertain profitability of AI infrastructure investments. Recent setbacks, such as Nvidia-backed Firmus suspending its planned $5 billion IPO due to increasing scrutiny of AI valuations and the sustainability of infrastructure spending, have added to the pressure on Elice and its peers. CoreWeave has also faced challenges as investors question the funding of its debt-driven expansion.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "CNBC World",
        "title": "South Korea's Elice plunges 30% in market debut as investors reassess AI sector",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/20/south-koreas-elice-plunges-30-in-market-debut-as-investors-reassess",
        "published": "2026-10-20T07:03:02.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}