Sprouts Farmers Markets Grows Quickly in IPO

When you think about successful initial public offerings on Wall Street, you may not have ever imagined that Sprouts Farmers Market would join the exclusive company of other first day stars. However, they have certainly done that with what can only be called a fantastic first day on the market.

Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) is an organic grocery store that has grabbed a sizable share of the growing market for healthy, organic foods. Along with Whole Foods (WFM), Sprouts is perhaps the biggest of the developing market. Sprouts sets itself apart by being seen as a more affordable alternative to other organic grocery stores, though.

The Phoenix-based company now has over 160 stores across eight states, and they have been able to boast net sales of over $2 billion last year. Clearly, investors have a lot of confidence that Sprouts can continue to perform in that way, as they absolutely gobbled up shares of Sprouts in the first day it was available.

The initial public offering was priced at $18 per share for the 18.5 million shares available, but by the end of the day, it was up well over 200% at $40.11 per share, dazzling investors and skeptics alike.

Meanwhile, the great debut carried a price for competitor Whole Foods, whose own stock fell a bit despite decent quarterly results and sales forecasts. The Fresh Market (TFM), another organic grocery store, was up about 1% on the day.