NEW YORK - Two well-known companies shined in their market debuts yesterday, despite a difficult market for initial public offerings.
Shares of Hyatt Hotels Corp. jumped more than 13 percent in their first day. Investors seemed to dismiss concerns about infighting among the founder’s heirs and tepid sales.
Meanwhile, investors impressed by Ancestry.com’s large subscriber base and growth story pushed the genealogy website’s stock up as much as 21 percent.
“I have to say, it’s a very dangerous market right now, especially considering how many deals have recently missed their target or withdrawn,’’ David Menlow, of IPOfinancial.com, said yesterday. “It’s easy to connect those dots and assume the entire IPO market has heavily stalled. But that was obviously not the case today.’’
Five of the last nine IPOs have closed below their offering price on the first day, while others have suspended plans to go public.
Shares in Hyatt priced late Wednesday at $25 a piece, raising $950 million. In late trading, the stock was up 12 percent, at $28.
Ancestry priced 7.4 million shares at $13.50 each Wednesday to raise $100 million. The stock was up 4.4 percent to $14.10 in late trading.
