Business
Bob’s Discount Furniture closes flat in NYSE trading debut after pricing at $17 a share
Shares of Bob’s Discount Furniture barely budged on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday after the company priced its initial public offering at $17 per share.
That price was within Bob’s expected range of $17 to $19 per share and valued the company at about $2.22 billion. The stock, trading on the NYSE under the ticker symbol BOBS, closed the day at $17.02, roughly flat.
The Manchester, Connecticut-based company, which was founded in 1991, has grown to 206 showrooms across 26 states, as of Sept. 28, according to its S-1 filing. It plans to more than double that store count to over 500 locations by 2035, the filing said.
In an interview with CNBC, CEO Bill Barton said that even in a slow housing market and during a time when consumers have hesitated to splurge on some big-ticket items, Bob’s has seen demand for buying furniture across all incomes.
“People still need furniture, but in challenging times they are often looking for good value and we are the value leader,” he said.
Many of its customers are motivated by life changes, such as setting up a new apartment, buying a home, having a child or downsizing for retirement, he said.
Barton said Bob’s has seen more significant customer gains among higher-income households in recent years. About 27% of its customers have an annual household income of more than $150,000, and that part of the customer base is growing the fastest. He said that group is up by about 3% as a share of Bob’s shoppers in the past two years.
About half of its customers have an annual household income of more than $100,000, he said.
Bob’s is known for selling lower-priced couches, rugs, dining room tables and other furniture. It has an average order value of about $1,400 per transaction, excluding sales at its outlets, according to its S-1 filing. The retailer estimates its prices are on average about 10% lower than its value-focused furniture competitors’ lowest promoted prices or about 20% to 25% below their listed prices.
To keep prices low, the company said it relies on a “curated merchandising strategy, longstanding sourcing relationships and efficient supply chain,” according to the filing. It carries roughly one-third fewer items than value-oriented competitors, but orders in larger quantities, the filing said.
It’s also tried to stand apart from other furniture retailers with quicker deliveries. Instead of customers waiting for weeks or months, most purchases can be delivered in as few as three days, the company said in the filing.
With its new locations, Bob’s plans to add to both existing and new markets, Chief Financial Officer Carl Lukach told CNBC. It plans to open stores in regions where it already has high density, such as in the Midwest and the New England area, but also expand to new states this year, including South Carolina and Tennessee.
Initial public offerings in the U.S. are expected to gain momentum this year, as waning inflation and interest rate cuts are expected to nudge late-stage private companies off the sidelines, according to a report by consulting firm PwC. They’ll build on a decent past year for IPOs, too. Traditional IPOs raised $33.6 billion in 2025, which represented the best year since 2021.
This year, IPO activity may be led by artificial intelligence infrastructure, insurance and specialty risk companies, and AI-enabled software platforms, according to PwC. Industrials and manufacturing, including reshoring, aerospace and defense, and energy or grid-related infrastructure have gotten higher interest, too.
One of the widely anticipated IPOs this year is of Elon Musk’s company SpaceX. News of the potential IPO broke in December and Musk called reports about the planned offering “accurate.”
Sam Altman said Elon Musk tried many times for total control of OpenAI, which he’s now suing.
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A United Airlines plane approaches the runway at Denver International Airport on March 23, 2026.
Al Drago | Getty Images
United Airlines flight attendants approved a new five-year labor contract with 31% average raises to base pay by August and other improvements, marking the last of the major carriers with unionized flight crews to reach a deal post-Covid.
The labor deal would give United’s roughly 30,000 flight attendants their first raises in close to six years. The company and the flight attendants’ union reached a preliminary deal in March. Crews had rejected a contract last year.
The union said the contract won 82% approval from the flight attendants, with close to 90% of them voting.
“The contract will immediately change the lives of United Flight Attendants, especially our thousands of new hires who have been hired since the pandemic,” said Ken Diaz, president of the United chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants.
The contract also includes boarding pay, or pay for when the aircraft’s door is open and travelers are getting on. Airlines had for years started flight attendants’ pay clock once the boarding door was closed.
The contract comes with a roughly 7% to 8% increase in compensation and $741 million in back pay, as well as quality-of-life improvements like restrictions on red-eye flights and “sit pay” during disruptions of more than 2½ hours.
Stocks struggled on Tuesday, although blue chips proved resilient, amid a triple whammy of domestic political strife, surging US inflation and a lack of progress in the Middle East.
The FTSE 100 closed down just 4.11 points at 10,265.32. The FTSE 250 ended down 341.66 points, 1.5%, at 22,466.20, and the AIM All-Share fell 11.75 points, 1.4%, at 810.66.
The pound fell to 1.3505 dollars on Tuesday afternoon from 1.3651 dollars on Monday. Against the euro, sterling was lower at 1.1517 euros from 1.1584 euros on Monday.
The yield on UK 10-year gilts traded at 5.10%, up from 5.01% the day before.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defied calls for him to quit, despite a growing number of Labour MPs demanding that he steps aside.
“The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered,” Sir Keir told ministers during crunch talks over his future, as no one person has stepped forward to challenge him yet.
“The country expects us to get on with governing. That is what I am doing and what we must do as a Cabinet,” he added.
More than 80 of Labour’s 403 MPs have now called for Sir Keir to quit immediately, or to set out a timetable for his resignation, including some ministers.
Banks sold off, amid reports of a possible windfall tax on the sector should there be a change at the top of the Government.
“Banks narrowly avoided a higher tax rate at the last budget, but our base case now assumes the UK banking surcharge to increase from 3% to 5%,” said the banking team at JPMorgan.
NatWest fell 3.2%, Lloyds Banking Group dipped 4.4% and Barclays declined 3.6%.
Meanwhile, the surging bond yields weighed on interest rate-sensitive housebuilders, with Barratt Redrow down 4.1% and Taylor Wimpey 2.4% lower.
Adding to the uncertain mood was another spike in the oil price as the impasse in the Middle East carried on.
Iran’s chief negotiator said on Tuesday that Washington must accept Tehran’s latest peace plan or face failure, after US President Donald Trump warned a truce was on the brink of collapse.
“Relations between Washington and Tehran appear to be more strained than at any time since the original ceasefire was announced just over a month ago,” observed David Morrison at Trade Nation, suggesting that hostilities could “resume at any time”.
Brent crude for July delivery was trading at 108.07 dollars a barrel on Tuesday, up compared with 103.70 dollars at the time of the equities close in London on Monday.
In Europe on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended down 1.0%, and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt declined 1.6%.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5%, the S&P 500 fell 1.0% while the Nasdaq Composite was 1.7% lower.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury widened to 4.46% on Tuesday from 4.39% on Friday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury stretched to 5.02% from 4.97%.
The impact of the Iran war was reflected in soaring US inflation figures for April.
Annual CPI inflation sped up to 3.8% in April from 3.3% in March, above FXStreet-cited expectations of a 3.7% rise.
Monthly, energy costs were up 5.6% in April after a 21.3% jump in March.
Excluding food and energy costs, core CPI was up 2.8% year-on-year in April, up from 2.6% in March and higher than an expected 2.7%.
Analysts explained that much of the upside in core inflation came from a spike in shelter costs.
TD Economics said the numbers reinforce why the Fed needs to remain “patient”.
“Even assuming a ‘more normal’ reading on shelter prices last month, core inflation would’ve still firmed relative to March. With secondary price effects from higher energy prices likely to intensify in the months ahead, we’re likely to see core measures of inflation drift a bit higher and hover around 3% through year-end,” the broker said.
While Bank of America said the latest increase means inflation is getting “very uncomfortable” for the Fed.
Following the data, Fed futures now place a 60% probability of a rate hike by March next year.
The euro traded slightly lower against the greenback, at 1.1729 dollars on Tuesday from 1.1782 dollars on Monday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at 157.73 yen, higher than 157.01 yen.
Back in London, Vodafone fell back 7.0% after mixed full-year results with adjusted earnings short of hopes but adjusted cash flow ahead.
“In the stock market it’s often said that it’s better to travel than arrive, hence why shares in Vodafone dipped on robust-looking full-year results after a strong rally in the past 12 months,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.
Vodafone shares have risen 60% in the last 12 months.
Intertek led the risers, up 6.4%, as it said it was “reviewing” the latest takeover proposal from suitor EQT Fund Management Sarl.
Intertek has turned down three previous approaches from EQT.
On the FTSE 250, Greggs rose 8.0% after reporting higher sales in the opening weeks of 2026 and maintaining full-year expectations.
But Wickes plunged 12% after reporting mixed trading as wet weather weighed on retail demand at the start of 2026.
Gold traded lower at 4,663.87 dollars an ounce on Tuesday, from 4,733.27 dollars on Monday.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Intertek, up 320.00p at 5,300.00p, British American Tobacco, up 255.00p at 4,634.00p, Compass Group, up 1.74p at 31.93p, Imperial Brands, up 104.00p at 2,832.00p and London Stock Exchange Group, up 328.00p at 9,348.00p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Vodafone Group, down 8.45p at 111.95p, 3i Group, down 116.00p at 2,400.00p, St James’s Place, down 52.50p at 1,154.50p, Lloyds Banking Group, down 4.28p at 94.06p and Marks & Spencer, down 13.60p at 308.90p.
Wednesday’s global economic calendar has eurozone industrial production and GDP data, the King’s Speech in the UK and US PPI figures.
Wednesday’s local corporate calendar has a trading statement from Spirax Group.
Contributed by Alliance News
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