Four IPOs deliver strong market debuts on Friday

All four of the IPOs that priced on Thursday night have posted double digit gains in their first day of trading Friday. The day’s top performance came from 500.com (WBAI), the leading online sports lottery service provider in China, which priced at the high end of its upwardly revised range and traded up 54%. Another Chinese company, Sungy Mobile (GOMO), which provides mobile apps, literary content and entertainment services for Android, priced slightly above its midpoint and traded up 19%. 500.com and Sungy Mobile’s performances reflect continued investor interest in Chinese IPOs; the last two China-based US IPOs to go public, Qunar and 58.com (both in October 2013), produced an average first-day pop of 66% and are up 76% and 114%, respectively, since their IPOs.

Vince, which designs high-end apparel known for simple styling and luxurious materials, and Oxford Immunotec Global, which sells diagnostic tests for latent tuberculosis infection, also delivered strong first day returns. Vince priced at $20, above its $17 to $19 range, and joined the list of successful, fast-growing consumer IPOs (e.g. Burlington (+70% from its IPO), The Container Store (+108%), and zulily (+59%)) with its 43% first-day pop. Oxford Immunotec was the only deal to price below its range ($13-$15) at $12 but traded up 28% to close at $15.40. Today’s performance was a positive data point for the IPO market, as it follows two weeks of mixed returns in the space. 14 of the 27 companies to go public in the past three weeks were priced below their midpoints, and five are still trading below their IPO prices.