It’s snowing on the NYSE and raining frogs on the Nasdaq

By Christopher Zara

Newly public software companies are enjoying a good first day on Wall Street.

On the New York Stock Exchange, cloud-storage startup Snowflake roared out of the gate at $245 a share, more than double its IPO price of $120. The Silicon Valley firm, which provides data warehousing and analytic services, was buoyed by extra buzz this month when it said in a filing that Marc Benioff’s Salesforce Ventures and Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway were each purchasing $250 million worth of shares.

On the Nasdaq, meanwhile, Israeli software company JFrog leaped over its set price of $44 per share, opening 62% higher at $71.27. JFrog, which makes tools for software developers on platforms such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, is trading under the symbol FROG.

Both companies peaked at around 1 p.m. on Wednesday before leveling off in afternoon trading. Before they went public, Snowflake and JFrog were both named among the most sought-after companies for stock options by accredited investors on EquityBee, an investor platform.

Analysts typically say not to read too much into IPO pops since shares are often priced lower so they do just that.

This week is an especially busy one for tech-focused IPOs. As the Financial Times reports, Snowflake and JFrog are being joined on the pubic markets by companies such as Unity Software, Sumo Logic, and Vitru.

 

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