Plumtree's Shares Slightly Higher in post-IPO Trading

Updated from June 3

Plumtree Software(PLUM Quote) yielded some healthy gains on its first day of trading Tuesday but fell short of some expectations.

After pricing its offering at $8.50 a share Monday, the stock opened 13.1% higher Tuesday at $9.61. Shares climbed as much as 17.2% to $9.96 before falling to $8.62 in recent trading. Nearly 3 million shares traded hands by midday.

That high was still below the 20% rise that David Menlow, president of IPOFinancial.com, forecast for the stock on its first day of trading. Menlow upgraded his expectations after Plumtree lowered its offering price.

The pricing was near the top end of the expected range of $7 to $9, with 5 million shares offered. But on May 10, San Francisco-based Plumtree, which makes corporate portal software, lowered that initial share price from between $13 and $15. The company said it plans to use the $42.5 million raised for working capital and acquisitions.

Plumtree, which first filed to go public in September 2000, reported net income of $157,000 on $23.2 million in revenue in the first quarter. Revenue rose 23.8% from the same period a year earlier.

Despite competition ranging from behemoths Microsoft (MSFT Quote) and IBM(IBM Quote) to smaller players such as BroadVision (BVSN Quote) and Epicentric, Plumtree has enjoyed considerable growth. Revenue rose to $81.5 million in 2001 from only $181,000 in 1998.

"A couple of vendors have preponderance of the large installs," said David Yockelson, an executive vice president and director with research firm Meta Group. "At this point in time, I think they (Plumtree) are at the top of the heap."

"They have one of the most mature and best products out there," Yockelson added.