Ruckus Wireless Inc. (RKUS) , a maker ofwireless-networking equipment, fell 18 percent in its tradingdebut amid a decline in telecommunications gear stocks, afterraising $126 million in its initial public offering.
The shares fell $2.75 to $12.25 at the close in New York .The company sold 8.4 million shares yesterday at $15 apiece, thetop of the proposed range. The SP North American TechnologyMultimedia Networking Index fell less than 1 percent, while Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR) dropped 3.4 percent to $16.32.
Ruckus, based in Sunnyvale, California, makes devices thatlet phone companies shunt data traffic from overcrowded cellularnetworks onto higher-capacity Wi-Fi. Optimism for the company'sgrowth prospects failed to make up for weakness in the broadermarket, which weighed on the stock's debut, according to Sam Hamadeh, chief executive officer of PrivCo Media LLC, a NewYork-based firm that tracks private companies.
"The underwriters were far too optimistic," Hamadeh said."A lot of people were looking at Ruckus because they are ahigh-profile, venture-backed company. The reach was too far withthese market conditions."
Carriers are using Ruckus's small networking devices thatcan be placed on telephone poles, street lights or roofs torelieve networks swamped by data traffic from smartphones.
"We believe there's strength in our stock," Selina Lo,CEO of Ruckus, said in an interview. "Despite the bumps hereand there, we think the stock will sustain and grow over time."
The company crossed several obstacles before the offering,including last month's Hurricane Sandy superstorm, a snowstormand then a post-election slump in the stock market, according toLo. Ruckus filed on Oct. 5 to offer shares to the public.
Sequoia Capital is the largest shareholder and didn't sellstock in the offering, regulatory filings show. The Menlo Park ,California-based venture capital firm had a 24 percent stake inRuckus following the IPO.
Revenue nearly doubled in the nine months through Sept. 30to $152.5 million. Net income was $7.4 million, compared withbreak-even results in the year-earlier period, according to theprospectus.
The company said it has no specific plans for the proceedsfrom the offering, and may use them for acquisitions and generalcorporate purposes including sales and marketing.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) led the deal.The stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under thesymbol RKUS.
Before starting Ruckus, Lo was vice president of marketingat Alteon Websystems Inc., where she oversaw an IPO and then asale of the company to Nortel Networks Corp. for $7.2 billion in2000.
"We are riding on the increasing gap between the demandfor mobile data and the ability of public networks to increasetheir capacity," Lo said.
To contact the reporters on this story:Elizabeth Wollman in San Francisco at ewollman@bloomberg.net ;Peter Burrows in San Francisco at pburrows@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:Jeffrey McCracken at jmccracken3@bloomberg.net ;Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net
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