Levi Strauss Starts Trading And Surges By Over 35% Above IPO Price

&l;p&g;&l;img class=&q;dam-image getty size-large wp-image-545453252&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/545453252/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;667&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; Helston, United Kingdom - July8, 2016: Close-up image of Levi&s;s branding label. Levi Strauss is one of the world&s;s oldest and most well known jeans manufacturers.

Levi Strauss started trading again in the U.S. after&a;nbsp;a 34-year hiatus. The new ticker is LEVI and it is trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The company was founded in San Francisco during the gold rush back in the 1800&s;s. At the time, a tremendous amount of people were moving to California in the hopes of finding gold. People needed durable clothes that could withstand the wear and tear of digging/mining for gold and Levis saw the opportunity and quickly filled that void. Then, in the 1900&s;s the company enjoyed explosive growth as more and more people around the globe began wearing jeans and they became fashionable. Now the company is well positioned for future growth and has diversified its portfolio into other lucrative avenues.

&l;strong&g;10x Oversubscribed:&l;/strong&g;

The current IPO shows that investors have a strong appetite for the stock. The IPO was ten times oversubscribed and the company raised $623 million. The initial public offering was priced at $17 per share, higher than the initial expected range of $14 to $16, valuing the company at $6.6 billion. The fact that it was oversubscribed bodes well for the IPO market as there are several other high-profile IPOs expected to be announced later this year. A few hours after Thursday&s;s open, the stock jumped above $23/share which is over 35% above the IPO price. Clearly, that illustrates strong demand from investors.

&l;strong&g;Competitors Tank:&l;/strong&g;

The key now will be to see how Levis will perform going forward. Earlier today, shares of Guess? Incorporated plunged 15% after reporting lousy earnings. Other retail and apparel stocks have been under pressure in recent years due to the changing landscape. This is just something to keep in mind as we wait and see how the stock will perform going forward.

&l;strong&g;Bottom Line:&l;/strong&g;

This is a big IPO and bodes well for the entire IPO market. At this point, investors want to see if the company can produce strong numbers in future quarters even as other retail and apparel stocks have been under pressure recently.&l;/p&g;