10 Biggest First-Day IPO Gains of the Past Decade

The biggest first-day IPO gains ever have more than doubled shareholders' initial investment when they hit the market. One brought in gains of more than 350%.

According to Renaissance Capital, 1,369 companies have gone public in the United States since 2005. While many of them have been duds, many more have been winners for investors.

But these 10 IPOs stood head and shoulders above the rest on their first day of trading…

10 Biggest First-Day IPO Gains

Baidu Inc. (Nasdaq: BIDU) posted the largest first-day gain among IPOs in the past 10 years with a gain of 354% in its first day of trading. The Chinese Internet search provider made its public debut on Aug. 8, 2005. The stock opened at a price of $66 per share, which was well above its offer price of $27. The stock finished the day at $122.54. At the time, the company had a market cap of just $4 billion and quarterly revenue of $8 million. It was Baidu's potential that caught the attention of investors and sent the stock soaring.

Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: DRNA) is the most recently public company to make the list, making its initial public offering on Jan. 29, 2014. The company focuses on rare inherited diseases and experienced a one day jump of 207% when it went public. DRNA had priced six million shares at $15 each. The stock traded as high as $46 per share on its first day of trading.

Youku.com (NYSE: YOKU) is an Internet television company in China that hit the New York Stock Exchange on Dec 7, 2010. YOKU had initially set a price range of $9 to $11 for its public offering, but saw its shares trade as high as $33.44 in its first day. That's a one-day gain of 161%. Youku.com merged with Tudou Holdings Limited in 2012 and now trades as Youku Tudou Inc.

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