Shares of Caldera Systems Inc. more than doubled during the first day of its initial public offering Tuesday.
The Orem-based Linux software maker originally projected prices of $7 to $9 per share, revising the estimate to $10 to $12 a share in the days before the IPO. Caldera stock, trading on the NASDAQ, hit $33 during the first day, closing at $29.44. Shares were trading early Wednesday at $25.08.The NASDAQ assigned Caldera a trading start late in the morning Tuesday, so the stock only saw four hours of trading its first day before the market closed.
"It's hard to say what would have happened if we would have had a full day," Caldera CEO Ransom Love said after the market closed Tuesday.
The initial activity followed analysts' predictions. "We're ecstatic," Love said.
Caldera develops Linux-based software for business. Its counterparts in the Linux market have also done exceptionally well when they went public. VA Linux Systems recorded the biggest first-day rise in IPO history, leaping from $30 to $320 a share. And Red Hat, the industry's most recognized Linux company, saw its stock soar from its opening price of $14 per share to a pre-split $302 four months later.
Linux is a computer operating system that is distributed freely on the Internet. Companies are making money on Linux by making their own enhancements and by incorporating the software into working products.
Love said he hopes investors keying in on Linux companies will find that Caldera is shipping finished products and not just reselling the open-source Linux technology back to the development community. "We are delivering a total business solution, which includes education and support," he said.
It's also payback time for the hours Love said he spent away from his family while preparing for the IPO. "I asked my kids after not having me around forever what they wanted to do, and they told me they wanted to go to Disneyworld."