*By Carlo Versano*
Shares of SurveyMonkey's parent company SVMK ($SVMK) jumped more than 50 percent in their market debut Wednesday.
The stock opened at $18.75, well above the IPO price of $12, which was already higher than the target range.
It's just the latest sign of strong investor demand for new tech offerings ー SVMK also sold a greater-than-expected 15 million shares in the IPO.
The 20-year old online polling company, part of the original dot-com rush, hopes to ride the wave of strong tech IPOs from the likes of Eventbrite ($EB), Farfetch ($FTCH), and Sonos ($SONO).
"It seems like investors really can't get enough of these IPOs," said the Wall Street Journal's Maureen Farrell.
Farrell has been following the SurveyMonkey road show and told Cheddar Wednesday "there was a ton of excitement," highlighted by a $40 million capital raise from Salesforce Ventures, which also invested in Dropbox ($DBX) in that company's March IPO.
That was "another stamp of approval from the industry," Farrell said.
SurveyMonkey was a pioneer of the "Freemium" model. The company said it had 16 million active users as of June, with 600,000 paying for the premium service. The company is not yet profitable, though ー like with many new tech companies ー that fact has not slowed interest.
The company is also a natural acquisition target, according to Farrell. Cloud computing companies like Oracle ($ORCL) and Salesforce ($CRM) would be obvious suitors, with the latter already showing its interest.
Among SurveyMonkey's largest shareholders is Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who inherited a 10 percent stake when her husband, former SurveyMonkey CEO Dave Goldberg, passed away unexpectedly in 2015. Sandberg has said she will donate the entirety of her shares to The Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation.
Consider this your sign to pack your bags. Airbnb says Colorado Springs will be a top travel destination in 2024.
A moon landing attempt by a private US company appears doomed because of a fuel leak on the newly launched spacecraft. Astrobotic Technology managed to orient the lander toward the sun Monday so its solar panel could capture sunlight and charge its onboard battery.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has announced that 100,000 businesses have signed up for a new database that collects ownership information intended to help unmask shell company owners. Yellen says the database will send the message that “the United States is not a haven for dirty money.”
A new version of the federal student aid application known as the FAFSA is available for the 2024-2025 school year, but only on a limited basis as the U.S. Department of Education works on a redesign meant to make it easier to apply.
A steep budget deficit caused by plummeting tax revenues and escalating school voucher costs will be in focus Monday as Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature return for a new session at the state Capitol.
The first U.S. lunar lander in more than 50 years is on its way to the moon. The private lander from Astrobotic Technology blasted off Monday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, catching a ride on United Launch Alliance's brand new rocket Vulcan.
Global prices for food commodities like grain and vegetable oil fell last year from record highs in 2022, when Russia’s war in Ukraine, drought and other factors helped worsen hunger worldwide, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said Friday.
Wall Street is drifting higher after reports showed the job market remains solid, but key parts of the economy still don’t look like they’re overheating.
The Biden administration is docking more than $2 million in payments to student loan servicers that failed to send billing statements on time after the end of a pandemic payment freeze.
The nation’s employers added a robust 216,000 jobs last month, the latest sign that the American job market remains resilient even in the face of sharply higher interest rates.
