Online video publisher Brightcove Inc's shares got off to a flying start on their debut, rising as much as 43 percent, continuing the tech sector's strong run in the IPO market. Brightcove's shares opened 32 percent above their IPO price of $11 on Friday morning on the Nasdaq.
Investors have lapped up shares of most companies across sectors that debuted earlier this month such as EPAM Systems, Roundy's Parent, Caesars Entertainment and FX Alliance.
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Brightcove, started in 2004, provides cloud-based solutions to clients to help them publish and distribute videos and other digital media.
"Companies that are cloud related are like last year's social media stocks. They (Brightcove) have attractive customer pricing and it is hard for a customer to change because they are committed to the technology," said IPO Desktop analyst Francis Gaskins. Despite the glitzy start, some analysts remain cautious on the company's long-term prospects.
Brightcove has incurred a loss each year since it began operating. It posted a consolidated net loss of $17.3 million for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, and expects to continue to incur operating losses on an annual basis through at least the end of 2012, according to a regulatory filing.
Brightcove, which named only Google's YouTube as its rival in the filing, also competes with Ooyala, IAC's Vimeo and Comcast's thePlatform for a share in the fast-growing video cloud sector.