Late yesterday, Reuters reported that the IPO of Eden Prairie, MN-based Compellent Technologies Inc. (NYSE symbol: CML), a maker of storage networking systems, priced at $13.50 per share — higher than the $10-12 price range expected.  Compellentlogowhite
The offering, led by Morgan Stanley, thus raised $81 million, "as investors continue to pile into a new
offerings from technology companies," the article said.

An excerpt:

Compellent’s offering was multiple times oversubscribed to
both retail and institutional buyers, said Scott Sweet,
managing director of IPOboutique.com, who had expected the IPO
to price high. At its $13.50 share price, Compellent has an initial market
capitalization exceeding $400 million.

Well, fast forward to market close today (Wednesday), and that market cap was a whole lot higher!  Try  $1.45 billion, as Compellent closed its first day of trading at $24.19 per share.  No wonder CEO and cofounder Phil Soran looks so happy in this photo taken today on the floor of the NEw York Stock Exchange. (Photo courtesy of BusinessWire.)

Philsoranatnyse
Here’s how MarketWatch reported the story this afternoon: Compellent Technologies IPO 3rd best opener so far in ’07. That story was published before market close, however, when the stock was trading at $23.05.  It kept going up, and I calculate that it closed up 79% from its open — making it, in fact, the second best opening so far in 2007. That would put it ahead of even mega-darling VMware, which rose 76% on its first day earlier in 2007 — and also ahead of fellow storage company Isilon, which closed up 78% in its first trading day back in December 2006.

Here are three more links to news coverage regarding Compellent’s first day as a public company:

• Compellent Technologies IPO Prices Above Expectations at $13.50 Per Share (AP via Yahoo)

• Compellent Shares Jump in Market Debut – Climb More Than 70 Percent After Pricing Above Expectations (AP via Yahoo)

• NYSE Arca Welcomes IPO of Compellent Technologies, Inc. (BusinessWire)

Watch for more from me tomorrow on Compellent, a company that went from startup to IPO in five short years. (Note: I own no Compellent stock.)

UPDATE (10/11):  Well, I guess I figured right — The Journal reported the same thing this morning: Compellent Rises 79% Above IPO Price. Wow, CML is the second-largest first-day IPO pop so far in 2007! And it beats Isilon by a nose as well. My calculator worked… 🙂