Yelp’s logo is seen in neon on a wall at the company's Manhattan offices in New York.Kathy Willens/AP
Add an Internet company with a social component to a widely anticipated initial public offering and what do you get? Mania!
Yelp Inc. surged as much as 73 per cent in the first few minutes after the start of trading on Friday. The site, which allows users to review just about anything and anyone, priced its shares at $15 (U.S.) on Thursday -- which was considerably higher than an earlier expectation of $12 to $14 -- and they spiked to $26 on Friday.
This follows the pattern of a number of other high-profile Internet-IPOs in recent months, including LinkedIn Corp. Shares tend to jump at the start of trading, though subsequent gains tend to be harder to come by as reality sets in.
David Berman