Blue Martini Makes Heads Spin, Rising Nearly 174% on Debut

Updated from 3:45 p.m. EDT

Shares of Blue Martini Software (BLUE) finished up nearly 174% in its trading debut on Tuesday, in a week that is filled with notable companies going public.

The initial public offering of 7.5 million Blue Martini shares was priced at $20 a share, well above the $16 to $18 range, which had already been raised once, from $11 to $13. The $150 million issue finished Tuesday regular trading up 34 25/32 at 54 25/32.

The San Mateo, Calif.-based company develops and sells software for Internet-based business applications, such as e-marketing, e-merchandising and e-service. Its customers include privately held Levi Strauss, the world's No. 1 maker of brand name clothing; Deluxe Corp., the largest check printer in the U.S. and Harley-Davidson, the only major maker of motorcycles in the U.S.

For the quarter ended March 31, Blue Martini reported a net loss of $11.6 million, or 46 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $1.6 million, or 7 cents a share, a year earlier. It reported revenue of $10.7 million, up 433% from $241,000 the 1999 quarter.

Goldman Sachs was the lead manager of Blue Martini's IPO, with Dain Rauscher Wessels, Thomas Weisel Partners and U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray as part of the underwriting team.

Other highly-anticipated offerings this week include: Tycom, a spinoff of conglomerate Tyco International and optical networking plays Avici Systems and Corvis.

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