Birkenstock stumbles on Wall Street as traders find sandal maker’s shares too pricey

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN
AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Birkenstock shares are tumbling as the stock makes its debut on the New York Stock Exchange as Wall Street trades in its wingtips for sandals for a day. The 249-year-old German maker of upmarket sandals set a price of $46 per share for its initial public offering of stock, valuing the company at $8.64 billion. It opened at $41 under the “BIRK” ticker symbol. The company’s footwear was first cobbled together by Johann Adam Birkenstock in Germany in 1774. The sandals have long been derided as the antithesis of high fashion but have a cult following and this year got a plug in the blockbuster film “Barbie.”