Tech IPOs have brought plenty of booms and busts in recent years

Snap Inc., the company behind popular messaging app Snapchat, priced its hotly-anticipated initial public offering at $17 a share on Wednesday, giving it a valuation of around $24 billion.

Naturally, the lead-up to Snap’s debut has led to plenty of analysis over whether or not the self-proclaimed “camera company” will ever live up to its massive hype. Either way, the IPO is poised to make a handful of power players very rich right away.

But as this chart from Statista shows, if other recent tech IPOs are any indication, whether or not those who purchase Snap shares will get a return on their investment is up in the air. While the likes of Facebook and Weibo have proven lucrative for those who held onto their initial shares, the likes of Fitbit, Twitter, and Groupon haven’t been so kind.

Now, Snap is not Fitbit or Groupon. But it’s just as hard to say it’ll be Facebook either, and that's the point.

SEE ALSO: Samsung introduced 10 times as many phones as Apple last year, but its mobile division made half as much revenue

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 7 amazing technologies we'll see by 2030