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Three IPOs soar in debut
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September 27, 2000: 5:30 p.m. ET
Eden Bioscience leads the pack; AvantGo, Southern Energy follow
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Shares of Eden Bioscience Corp. doubled on their first day of trading Wednesday, leading a host of other initial public offerings higher as the new issues market continued to build on its recent momentum.
Mobile Internet company AvantGo, energy distributor Southern Energy Inc. and energy tools company Hydril also produced strong gains, building on investors' enthusiasm from Tuesday night, when three of the four companies priced above their expected ranges.
Last week the IPO market fared very well after the traditional Labor Day break. A thin schedule was highlighted by sharp gains in Inrange Technologies (INRG: Research, Estimates) and OmniSky (OMNY: Research, Estimates)
Combined with the impressive debut of networking firm CoSine Communications, which surged 174 percent in its debut Tuesday, the week's IPO market is off to a roaring start, although analysts caution the results may be slanted somewhat since the week's best deals have already emerged.
IPO paradise for Eden
Shares of Eden (EDEN: Research, Estimates) were the day's biggest gainer, jumping $15, or 100 percent, to $30.00 after raising $87 million Tuesday.
 The Bothell, Wash.-based company develops organic alternatives to traditional pesticides, which also increase crop yields.
"Eden has a product that's really neat," said Francis Gaskins, IPO analyst and president of Gaskinsco.com. "Like a number of companies (going public) now, they have a product that's just introduced and is coming out of beta testing or is ready for prime time."
Merrill Lynch was lead manager for the offering.
Mobile Internet software and service company AvantGo (AVGO: Research, Estimates), perhaps the week's best-known deal, managed an $8, or 67 percent, gain to $20 on the Nasdaq. Shares hit a high of $27.75 before slowly retreating in the afternoon.
Click here to read CNNfn's IPO Focus story on AvantGo
The San Mateo, Calif.-based company provides Internet content from a variety of sources, including CNNfn.com, to personal digital assistants and cellular phones. With AvantGo's software, customers can surf their favorite Web sites from Palm Pilots or certain Web-capable phones. But the company's main source of revenue is licensing its mobile computing infrastructure software.
Gaskins said it is not so much the company's products as its marketing deals that make the stock attractive to investors.
AvantGo's software is bundled on handheld computers made by Hewlett Packard (HWP: Research, Estimates), Compaq (CPQ: Research, Estimates), Casio, and Symbol Technologies (SBL: Research, Estimates) that use Microsoft's Window CE operating system and the Palm III and Palm V products.
Gaskins said their top-line revenue also is growing quickly because of these deals.
Credit Suisse First Boston was lead manager of the IPO, which raised $66 million pricing Tuesday.
Energy remains hot
Southern Energy (SOE: Research, Estimates), this week's largest IPO at $1.28 billion, jumped $6.56, or 30 percent, to $28.56 on the New York Stock Exchange, continuing investors recent infatuation with energy-related new issues.
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter managed the Atlanta-based company's IPO.
According to analysts, Southern Energy, which provides electrical generation and distribution, is in the right sector, particularly given the dearth of media stories on energy companies and the price of oil lately.
Energy tools company Hydril (HYDL: Research, Estimates) also began trading Wednesday, and while overshadowed by the more high-profile deals, the shares still saw a solid gain, rising $3.38, or 19.8 percent, to $20.38. 
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