Fusion-io, which makes data storage systems for companies like Facebook, rose 18% in their public debut on Thursday. The company’s IPO on Wednesday was priced at $19 a share, which was above the $16 to $18 a share that it had previously announced.
Fusion-io opened on the New York Stock Exchange at $25 a share, but surged up to $33 before finally ending at $22.50. 18 billion shares were sold for a total of $1.5 million. All in all, Fusion-io raised $233.7 million in their IPO.
Fusion-io was founded in 2007 and is located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The company makes flash memory products designed to make data centers more efficient. These types of products use less space and energy, which means a cooler data center and fewer servers.
Fusion-io has raised $111 million with funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates, and Andereessen Horowitz. However, the company posted a loss of $31.7 million last year, with sales of $36.2 million. Facebook is the company’s largest customer. In fact, Facebook accounted for over half of all revenue for the first quarter of this year. That is expected to change for this quarter, though, as Fusion-io reported that they believe that sales to Facebook will “decline significantly.”
Underwriters for the IPO include JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, and Morgan Stanley. They will now have an option to purchase 1.85 million shares. After the public offering, there are still about 77 million shares outstanding.
Fusion-io is the latest in a long list of companies to go public, creating a very busy market for 2011. Several other companies have also been able to attract the interest of investors even though they have a history of operating in the red. LinkedIn was another company that hasn’t made a profit, but is holding steady in the market.
