SolarWinds' IPO Raises Hope

SolarWinds (SWI) sells neither solar nor wind technology, but it landed in the spotlight and caught a puff of air when it went public on the New York Stock Exchange on May 20. The maker of software for monitoring and repairing computer networks went out at $12.50 per share, quickly rose above $14, and later closed at $13.75 in spite of declines in the broader market.

It was only the second technology company to go public this year and offered hope to other venture-backed startups hoping to sell shares publicly. "It's exciting to be a company that maybe helps break the logjam and creates excitement in new issues coming back," Chief Executive Mike Bennett said in an interview. Rosetta Stone (RST), a maker of computer disk-based language instruction products, went public on Apr. 16. After climbing initially, it is now trading just below its initial public offering price of $25. Another tech company, OpenTable, which provides online reservations for restaurants, is expected to go public on May 21. "This is great. I just hope it unleashes a more substantial flow rather than a trickle," says Tasso Roumeliotis, CEO of startup WaveMarket, a mobile-phone software company that hopes to go public in the next couple of years.