Copper Mountain shoots up 216 percent in IPO

Copper Mountain Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: CMTN) rocketed up 45 3/8, or 216 percent, to 66 3/8 Thursday in its initial public offering. The 4 million-share offering opened at 63 1/2 and moved up to a high of 70 11/16.

Copper Mountain was originally priced at between $16 to $18 late Wednesday.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based maker of DSL (digital subscriber line)-based communications products boosted its range between $16 a share and $18 from $12 to $14. The strong demand stems from the buzz tied to anything associated with broadband communications. America Online Inc. (NYSE: AOL) has been the incidental benefactor to DSL companies as it hammers out its own designs to tap the high-speed network connection business.

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter led the offering, and BancBoston Robertson Stephens and Dain Rauscher assisted.

Copper Mountain sells its wares with its own sales forces and has distribution relationships with Lucent Technologies Inc. and 3Com Corp.

In 1998, Copper Mountain generated $21.8 million in revenue, up from $211,000 in the previous year. NorthPoint Communications Inc. and Rhythms NetConnections Inc. made up 61 percent and 18 percent of sales, respectively, for last year.

The company pared its loss last year to $10.2 million from $11.01 million in 1997 and has an accumulated loss of $24.6 million.

For the three months ending March 31, Copper Mountain reported sales of $13.2 million and a loss of $1 million.

DSL is technology that allows high-speed transmission of data and voice through copper phone lines. The technology extends the life of older phone networks as telecommunications companies ramp up to new technologies, such as fiber optic networks and wireless systems.

Keep an eye out for Alloy Online Inc.'s (proposed ticker: ALOY) IPO, which could begin trading as early as tomorrow. Alloy in is a content and community builder for adolescents.