The End of the Kardashian Effect?

Watching shares of Uber Technologies Inc., (UBER) fizzle since their first day of trading, we’re left wondering if we’re seeing the waning days of the Kardashian effect in the stock market. Just as the Kardashians have spent the last decade-plus being famous for—well—being famous, a handful of stocks have ridden a wave of momentum to ever-higher prices.

First it was the FAANGs*, as shown in the chart below, and more recently several IPOs—which brings us back to Uber. With a trunk full of debt and no clear path to profitability, investors pulled their noses up at the ridesharing tech company for good reason. We are encouraged by the new attitude and believe it could mark a return to investors paying attention to fundamentals: like the price you pay for a business.

*FAANG stands for Facebook, Inc., Apple Inc., Amazon.com, Inc., Netflix, Inc., and Google (Alphabet Inc.)