Thursday, March 25, 2010

Today's IPO stars: Calix, MaxLinear, First Interstate

When a company has an first public offering, Wall Street tends to look at meticulously. Three very different inital public offerings today have gone well. Calix Networks, MaxLinear and First Interstate BancSystem have all shown better-than-expected stock earnings. Both focusing on internet infrastructure, Calix and MaxLinear are doing well since the announcement of the National Broadband Plan. One of the few banks that has shown strength within the difficult economy, First Interstate is using the IPO to create instant money for their growth.

Calix Networks creates infrastructure equipment

Calix Networks is located in California and began trading with the symbol CALX on the NASDAQ exchange today. Calyx designs and manufactures equipment that manages telephone, television, and internet fiber networks. Calix already has a large customer base, including CentryTel. Calix’s first $200 million start-up expense was funded by both private equity firms and venture capital investors. Shares of Calix are trading at about $3 a share above estimated IPO prices. The stock price of Calix is expected to continue going up as broadband infastructure receives a lot more funding.

Maxlinear produces power-saving chips

The MaxLinear IPO today also went very well. Trading on the NYSE as MXL, MaxLinear was last trading at about $18 a share. MaxLinear designs and manufactures processing chips for mobile and small-scale devices. The small chips that MaxLinear makes use less power, which helps extend battery life. Venture capital firms provided the quick payday loans that covered start-up costs for MaxLinear. MaxLinear was probably the most hotly anticipated IPO of the day and estimates were the stock would sell for $11 to $13 apiece, which they quickly surpassed. Quite a few consumer electronics, such as TVs, cell phones, and tablet PCs use MaxLinear’s chips.

First Interstate BancSystem IPO

As an antidote to the high-technology Calix and MaxLinear initial public offerings today, the NASDAQ also saw the IPO of a regional bank. First Interstate BancSystem Inc. is a regional banking system with branches in Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Early morning trading sent this bank’s stocks past $16. First Interstate is the first U.S. bank to go public since July of 2007. Trading under the symbol FIBK, First Interstate Bank was able to show an improved net interest income and total assets while several other banks were being taken over by the FDIC.

Sources:

The Associated Press

Wall Street Journal

Red Herring

24/7 Wall Street



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