Raspberry Pi Holdings PLC shares surged again on Friday as they hit the open market for retail investors.
The budget computer firm’s shares climbed 15% in early trading, hitting 471.90 pence. The early high represents a more than 70% premium on the firm’s initial public offering price earlier this week.
The shares had already surged 47% in the three days since hitting the market on Tuesday, but until this morning trading the stock was conditional, meaning that it was only available to institutional shareholders.
But Friday’s early gains indicated that demand is also high among ordinary retail investors, after the IPO was hyped as a welcome victory for the London market.
Raspberry Pi listed on Tuesday with its stock valued at 280p. By the close on Thursday it was valued at 412p. Raspberry Pi said the listing would raise £166 million.
It comes after the London Stock Exchange has been hit by a swathe of UK-listed firms being bought out or defecting abroad of late.
Paddy Power-owner Flutter Entertainment PLC has moved its main stock market listing to New York while Hanover, Germany-based Tui AG approved a plan to delist from London in February, and in another blow UK chip maker Arm Holdings chose Wall Street over London for its stock market return.
Raspberry Pi was founded by computer scientist Eben Upton in 2008 before releasing its first product in 2012.
It has since sold more than 60 million of its single board computers alone.
The group’s products are sold across more than 70 countries worldwide.
It is a subsidiary of the Raspberry Pi Foundation – a UK charity founded when the company was set up in 2008, with the goal of promoting interest in computer science among young people.
As a major shareholder in Raspberry Pi, the foundation has received around $50 million in dividends since 2013, which has been used to advance its educational mission globally, according to the group.
Raspberry Pi reported revenue of $265.8 million in 2023, with operating profit of $37.5 million.
By Alex Daniel, PA Business Reporter
Press Association: Finance
source: PA
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