oatly shares ended the day up more than 18 after the companys public market debut thursday the stocks opening trade was 2212 just before noon giving it a market value of 131 billion and putting shares about 30 above the initial public offering price shares lost some of those gains in the minutes following the first trade on wednesday night the swedish company priced its us initial public offering at 17 per share at the top of its indicated range raising 14 billion at that price the implied valuation is 10 billion well above the current market value of another company that specializes in making substitutes for animal products beyond meat the oatmilk maker is trading on the nasdaq under the stock ticker otly oatly made its us debut in coffee shops five years ago building a strong following for its oatbased milk substitute the company focused on getting baristas and coffee drinkers hooked on oat milks creamy texture and ability to froth before pushing into grocery stores since then oat milk sales have surged more than tripling in 2020 based on nielsen data still almond milk holds on to the top spot for dairy substitutes oatly has also been expanding its portfolio branching out into oatbased ice cream and yogurt in 2020 oatlys revenue more than doubled reaching 4214 million food service accounted for a quarter of sales and retailers accounted for the rest the company reported a net loss of 6036 million as it focused on entering new markets building brand awareness and expanding production i dont see anyone else taking that leadership position the way we are ceo toni petersson said on cnbcs squawk box on thursday we are really serious and ambitious about what were going to do here oprah natalie portman and former starbucks ceo howard schultz are among the big names who have invested in oatly statebacked china resources took a majority stake in the company in 2016 through a joint venture with belgiums verlinvest and blackstone invested 200 million in the company last year giving the firm a stake of about 10 oatly said in regulatory filings that it plans to use the ipo proceeds for working capital to fund incremental growth and other general corporate purposes