Capitalizing on the surging market for mobile apps, Millennial Media (NYSE:MM) launched its IPO today. And it was a rocket — the shares almost doubled, giving it a market cap of close to $1 billion.
Millennial Media is the No. 2 mobile ad network in the US. The top player is Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), and the No 3. operator is Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL).
Growth has been sizzling for Millennial Media. From 2010 to 2011, revenues went from $47.8 million to $103.7 million. In fact, the net loss was a mere $287,000.
Millennial Media’s technology works across a broad array of mobile devices and operating systems, such as from Apple, Google, Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). The company has a software development kit that makes it easy to add advertising units in apps. It also offers extensive analytics.
Customers include marquee names like Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), Disney (NYSE:DIS) and Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA). Even Rovio’s Angry Birds uses the Millennial Media platform.
Tom Taulli runs the InvestorPlace blog IPO Playbook, a site dedicated to the hottest news and rumors about initial public offerings. He also is the author of “The Complete M&A Handbook,” “All About Short Selling” and “All About Commodities.” Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli or reach him via email. As of this writing, he did not own a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
A long-time follower of the IPO scene, back in 1999 Tom started one of the first sites in the space called WebIPO. It was a place where investors got research as well as access to deals for the dot-com boom. Tom also wrote the top-selling book, Investing in IPOs. In it, he covers all the aspects of analyzing an IPO, such as reading the prospectus, detecting the risk factors and understanding some of the arcane regulations. But don’t worry — if that process is too intimidating for you, thankfully Tom will do the legwork for you right here in the IPO Playbook blog.
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