Canada-based Shopify (SHOP) surged on its public debut Thursday, with an initial public offering that exceeded expectations. Shopify priced 7.7 million shares at 17, above the expected range of 14 to 16, raising $131 million. When Shopify stock began trading Thursday morning on the NYSE, shares initially shot up 65% to 28. In the midday trading on the stock market today, Shopify stock was up 49%, above 25. Based in Ottawa, Shopify provides a
C onsumer electronics retailer Best Buy (BBY) early Thursday reported better-than-expected fiscal Q1 earnings, thanks to strong sales of televisions and mobile phones. Best Buy earned 37 cents a share excluding items on sales of $8.56 billion for the quarter ended May 2. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the Richfield, Minn.-based company to earn 29 cents a share on sales of $8.46 billion. On a year-over-year basis, revenue fell 5% while EPS rose 12%. Comparable store sales rose 0.6%, Best Buy said. “We continued to take advantage of strong product cycles in large-screen televisions and iconic mobile phones and continued growth in the major appliance category,” Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly said in a statement. Those gains were offset by declines in tablet and PC sales, he said. Best Buy was up 5% in midday trading in the stock market today, near 35.50….
Chinese security software and Internet search company Qihoo 360 Technology (QIHU) is entering the smart home market through a partnership announced Thursday with Huayuan Group, one of China’s largest real-estate developers. Products planned include smart surveillance cameras and smartwatches allowing homeowners to locate and video-chat with their children or access the Web simply by plugging a dongle into their computer’s USB port. Under the