Potbelly, which operates 288 sandwich shops in the US, posted a 120% gain on Friday, the second best first-day gain of 2013. After trading as high as $33 before noon, the restaurant chain closed on Friday at $30.77, 208% above its original $10 midpoint. The company raised $105 million on Thursday by offering 7.5 million shares at $14, above the upwardly revised range of $12 to $13.
Potbelly was the fourth company of the year to double on its first day, joining natural grocer Sprouts (124%), fellow fast-casual restaurant Noodles (104%, now up 142%) and enterprise software provider Benefitfocus (102%). The number of doubles represent a sharp uptick in the post-tech bubble era. After 2000, when 84 out of 406 US IPOs doubled (21%), just eight companies (0.5%) gained 100% or more on their first days from 2001 to 2012.
Correction: Previously stated that six companies had gained 100% or more from 2001 to 2012.
