O2Micro rouses IPO market from summer slumber
Shares in the company, which makes integrated circuits that extend the battery life of a range of consumer electronics products, more than double in first-day trading.
O2Micro sold 4 million shares yesterday at $9 each, the top of the $7 to $9 price range. Today, the shares opened at $16 and climbed as high as $21.88.
At the close of regular trading, the stock had zoomed up $11.77, or 130 percent, to $20.77.
The strong performance perked up a lazy IPO market with only three offerings on the calendar for this week and none planned for next week. Ista Pharmacueticals, which launched its IPO yesterday, rose just 25 cents from its IPO price.
"Of the three issues this week, O2Micro really stands out," said Mary Lupo, an analyst with the Renaissance IPO Plus Aftermarket Fund. "It's a profitable company, it's got good growth, and it focuses on the mobile work force."
The company had initially planned to launch its IPO last week, when 10 companies began trading. Lupo said the slim calendar this week might have helped O2Micro's first-day performance by raising its profile among investors.
"The market was totally saturated with all these issues," Lupo said of the past few weeks. "To have (the number of IPOs) drop off so suddenly, I think people were still in the mode to look at IPOs."
O2Micro trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "OIIM." Robertson Stephens handled the sale.