Cramer calls IPO pricing ‘broken’ and ‘embarrassing’ after Airbnb, DoorDash debuts skyrocket

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Friday sharply criticized how investment bankers handled the recent initial public offerings for companies such as DoorDash and Airbnb, two tech companies that saw major pops in their stocks after they began trading this week.

“I don’t want to say that the market is broken, but the process of how we’re doing these deals is definitely broken,” Cramer said on “Squawk Box.”

Food delivery app DoorDash closed higher by more than 85% in its market debut Wednesday, while home rental company Airbnb ended its first day of trading Thursday up more than 112%.

Those massive first-day moves, which left so much money on the table, are not the fault of the companies, Cramer said.

Instead, he said it was “embarrassing” work being done by the financial firms that work in the IPOs. “They ought to start focusing on how to do it better.”

Cramer said the recent price action reminds him of the dot-com boom in 1999, when there was similar levels of interest from retail investors in soon-to-be public companies.

“This is what happened in 1999 where the syndicate desks completely misjudged the public, and the public is back and they’re pricing deals as if the public isn’t back and it’s just the same old, same old funds buying stock,” the “Mad Money” host said.