Cloudflare's stock surges at open, with first trade 20% above IPO price
Shares of Cloudflare Inc. debuted with some flair Friday, as they opened 20% above the initial public offering price. The first trade for the cloud-based network platform company's stock was $19 at 11:48 a.m. Eastern for 5.5 million shares. The stock has since extended its gains, to be 24% above the IPO price in recent trading. The IPO priced late Thursday at $15, above the expected pricing range of $12 to $14, which was raised earlier in the week from $10 to $12. The upbeat open for the Cloudflare's stock contrasts with SmileDirectClub Inc.'s debut on Thursday, as the teeth-straitening company's stock closed at Thursday at $16.67, or 27.5% below the $23 IPO price, which also priced above its expected range. The company's have gone public at a time that the Renaissance IPO ETF has lost 2.9% over the past three months while the S&P 500 has gained 4.2%.
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