Colorado’s Top 100 Public Companies

Kyle Ringo //June 10, 2013//

Colorado’s Top 100 Public Companies

Kyle Ringo //June 10, 2013//

Englewood-based Dish Network sits atop the Top 100 Public Companies ranking for the third straight year with revenues of $14.3 billion in 2012, but a much smaller Colorado public company not even on the list has generated just as much buzz on Wall Street of late. You won’t find Rally Software on this year’s ranking because the company’s Initial Public Offering didn’t occur until early 2013, but the Boulder-based firm is viewed as a sign of the future for growth-minded tech enterprises seeking capital. Rally was already a rising star among Colorado businesses before it went public in April, trading under the ticker symbol RALY.

Rally’s IPO was originally priced at $11 to $13 per share and surged to more than $18 per share on its first day on the market. It exceeded expectations by nearly 30 percent and generated an estimated $84 million for the company that specializes in agile project management software. Rally representatives said they planned to use the new capital to expand the sales force, improve infrastructure, develop internationally and possibly acquire other companies.

One company likely to follow Rally into the public markets in the coming years – if not months – is Denver-based Ping Identity, which recently made Forbes’ list of America’s Most Promising Companies, at No. 56.

Ping CEO Andre Durand has acknowledged plans for an IPO possibly as soon as 2014. The cloud-based identity management and security company boasts annual sales of more than $100 million and more than 1,000 clients, including some of the world’s largest companies and organizations. Its customers include 45 Fortune 100 companies.

Francis Gaskins, president and editor of IPODesktop, told the Boulder Daily Camera earlier this spring the IPO market is positioned to continue its strong performance over the past 18 months. Gaskins said 85 percent of IPOs since January 2012 have posted gains in their stocks.

“The lake is rising, so to speak,” he said.

To see the entire list, check out our Sourcebook!