Four IPOs Debut Friday

Four IPOs are scheduled to begin trading Friday -- the most in a single day in over two years, according to deal tracker Dealogic -- as the new-issues market slowly awakens from its slumber.

One company on the roster, restaurant operator Buffalo Wild Wings, increased the price range for its offering to $16 to $17 a share from $14 to $16 a share Thursday. It also upped the size of its deal to 3 million shares from 2.66 million shares, still a relatively small offering.

The three other IPOs on Friday are expected to come from appliance retailer Conn's, Nexstar Broadcasting Group and Pinnacle Airlines. Using the midpoint of the proposed price ranges, the deals will be valued at a total of about $564 million.

Friday's offerings will follow successful debuts from Callidus Software(CALD Quote) and oil and gas company Whiting Petroleum(WLL Quote) on Thursday.

Callidus rose $2.85, or 20%, to $17.37, while Whiting gained 77 cents, or 5%, to $16.27. Both of the companies are profitable, unlike TolerRx, a money-losing biotech that failed to come to market. TolerRx was expected to go public at a range of $12 to $14 a share, but postponed its offering.

This year's IPOs -- up 24.5%, on average -- have done well in the aftermarket. One exception has been biotechs, which are down 5% in aggregate.

For its part, Callidus turned profitable for the first time in the nine months of 2003, earning $171,000. "This company fits the mold of the type of IPO that has been successful this year," said Paul Bard, an analyst at IPOHome.com, a Web site run by Renaissance Capital. "While investors would like to see long, consistent track records, this company is attractive because of its very strong growth outlook."

Elsewhere, Whiting Petroleum has been making money in each of the past four years, posting net income of $18.6 million in the nine months ended September 2003, on sales of $124.8 million.