In the second-best Wall Street debut of the year, Elastic’s shares almost doubled on Friday, giving the search software company a market cap of almost $4.9 billion.
The stock’s initial public offering on Thursday was priced at $36. With the sale of 7 million ordinary shares, it raised $252 million.
On the first day of trading Friday, the shares opened at $70 and closed at the same level. The trading low of $66.17 was “evidence of strong demand for shares in the company,” according to TechCrunch.
It was the year’s top-performing first-day IPO in the U.S. after Zscaler, which more than doubled on its first day. Elastic outperformed IPOs this year from other technology companies including DocuSign and Dropbox.
“We’ve been talking to investors over the past two weeks and over the past two months, and the story really resonates,” Elastic co-founder and CEO Shay Banon told CNBC. “These investors end up talking to customers of ours, and they’re very happy using our software and very proud. That effect just means that people put trust in our company.”
Elastic’s flagship software, an open-source tool called Elasticsearch, allows users to scan massive documents, data sets and visualizations. Customers include Dell, Netflix, Uber, Adobe, and The New York Times.
According to the company’s prospectus, its addressable market — including search systems, content analytics, and cognitive/AI software platform — has grown from $3 billion in 2012 to an estimated $45 billion in 2018.
As of July 31, 2018, Elastic had more than over 5,500 customers across more than 80 countries. “The strength of Elastic’s message/mission and customer base has been enough to entice investors despite the fact that the company is not profitable,” TechCrunch said.
Net losses reached $52.7 million in fiscal 2018, compared to a net loss of $52.0 million the year before, while operating cash flow was negative $20.8 million.
After filing to go public on Sept. 5, Elastic initially estimated it would price shares in the range of $26 to $29. On Oct. 2, it raised the estimated range to $33 to $35 per share.