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theglobe.com surges 606%
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November 13, 1998: 7:58 p.m. ET
Skyrocketing Internet IPO breaks first-day trading records
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Theglobe.com was Wall Street's king Friday as shares of the New York-based Internet company skyrocketed 606 percent, further fueling an IPO bonanza across the Internet sector.
By the time the dust had settled, the company closed at $63.50, well above the initial public offering price of $9, but off from the intraday high of $97 a share.
According to Securities Data Co., theglobe.com enjoyed the best first day of trading for any company with an offering price above $5 million or $10 million in proceeds from the IPO.
It beat such legendary IPOs as Netscape Communications Corp.'s in 1995 and Genentech Inc. in 1980. And it outshone IPO bonanzas such as that of Broadcast.com (BCST), shares of which surged to a 247.22 percent premium at closing on its first day of trade, while online auctioneer eBay (EBAY) closed at a 163.19 percent premium.
"In recent memory, I don't know of anything coming as close to this in terms of opening prices," said David Menlow, head analyst and president of IPO Financial Network in Springfield, N.J.
The stock was also the biggest percentage gainer and fourth most actively traded issue on Nasdaq, with more than 15 million shares changing hands.
A bumpy rode to riches
Theglobe.com, a New York City-based start-up firm that helps Internet users create personalized Web sites, burst out of the IPO starting blocks less than a month after the company postponed its debut, citing global economic turmoil and a near-moribund market for IPOs.
Theglobe.com launched a relatively small offering of 3.1 million shares, a limited issuance that apparently stoked demand as investors scrambled to snap up the stock. The shares opened under the ticker symbol (TGLO) at $87.
The sizzling debut follows Thursday's meteoric launch of EarthWeb Inc., an Internet services provider that soared to a first-day premium of 248 percent.
"Timing, timing, timing, that's the secret to the IPOs and you couldn't ask for a better time for theglobe.com than following after the EarthWeb issue this week," said Menlow, of the IPO Financial Network.
The startling success of EarthWeb (EWBX) prompted theglobe.com and its lead underwriter, Bear Stearns & Co., to take another stab at an IPO.
Theglobe.com initially planned to price the offering on Oct. 20 in a range of $11 to $13. When the due date arrived, however, the company cut the offering range to $8-$10, only to postpone it altogether two days later.
Theglobe.com was founded in 1995 by two college friends.
In the first half of 1998, theglobe.com lost $5.8 million on revenue of $1.2 million. That was well above a year-ago loss of $767,000 on sales of $208,000, prompting investor concern about the company's bottom-line strength. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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