Rocket Fuel IPO Soars on First Day of Trading
Ad tech companies have been met with a cold reception by Wall Street this year, but automated ad buying company Rocket Fuel was greeted warmly in its market debut Friday.
Rocket Fuel increased the offer price of its IPO to $29 per share, up from an initial range of $24-$27. The stock immediately jumped to $59.95 per share when trading opened Friday morning and held around $57 as of midday. By comparison, video ad networks YuMe and Tremor Video saw their stocks hover at their initial offering price or dip below it when they debuted.
Co-founder and CEO George John said in an interview that he was “just happy that investors could appreciate us” because public investors can be generalists who have a hard time differentiating between ad tech companies, particularly given how new the sector is to Wall Street. He added that investors focused on the company’s revenue growth. “A lot of investors saw that and said, ‘Shoot, even if we don’t understand what’s happening here, that’s good,'” Mr. John said.
