Fitbit Shares Surge 48 Percent in Market Debut

Shares of Fitbit soared in their trading debut on Thursday, even after the company priced its initial public offering above an already heightened range.

The shares opened at $30.40 on Thursday morning, up 52 percent from the I.P.O. price of $20. They closed up 48.4 percent, or $9.68, at $29.68.

The company, which sells popular wearable fitness-tracking devices like the Fitbit Surge bracelet, raised the price above its previous range of $17 to $19 a share and increased the size of the deal to 36.6 million shares from 34.5 million.

The company raised $732 million for itself and its selling stockholders.

The I.P.O. price valued Fitbit at $4.1 billion.

The shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol FIT.

The strong market debut reinforces the company’s bet that consumers will continue to buy fitness bands even as other, more complex smartwatches like the Apple Watch and various Android competitors hit stores. In addition to tracking users’ heart rates and steps, the newer devices offer access to email, text messages and other applications.

James Park, Fitbit’s chief executive, is confident that the company can maintain its leadership role in the industry.

“We are the clear market leader with 85 percent market share,” Mr. Park said in a interview. “Fitbit is synonymous with health and fitness tracking, and that gives us a competitive advantage in the marketplace.”

He also pointed to what he called the company’s powerful user base and its value as a social network.

Mr. Park said the cash from the I.P.O. would help the company continue to expand.

“It gives us a lot of capital to grow the business,” Mr. Park said, adding that it would allow for investments in software, hardware and perhaps even acquisitions, like its purchase earlier this year of FitStar, the developer of fitness apps.

Fitbit’s sales more than tripled last year, to $745.4 million. The company earned $131.8 million, reversing a nearly $52 million loss in the previous year.

Growth in the sector appears to show few signs of slowing in the near term. The number of wearable fitness devices used by customers is expected to triple by 2018, to more than 70 million, according to a report by Juniper Research in November.

The stock market has generally been receptive to popular consumer electronics companies. Among the strongest debuts last year was that of GoPro, the maker of action video cameras, which as of Thursday was trading at more than double its initial public offering price.

Fitbit’s stock sale was run by Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/business/dealbook/fitbit-shares-surge-52-percent-in-market-debut.html