Guidewire IPO shines; IntelePeer buzz weak

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) � Shares of Guidewire Software soared more than 30% Wednesday following its IPO, making for a strong debut in the first of two expected offerings this week from the hot cloud-computing sector.

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But the second IPO � expected from IntelePeer late Wednesday � is not getting the same strong buzz among investors.

Guidewire GWRE � jumped 31.7% to close at $17.12 after opening at $16.75 a share. The San Mateo, Calif.-based company priced 8.85 million shares at $13 late Tuesday, above its expected range of $10 to $12 a share.

Guidewire, which offers Web-based software services geared to the property and casualty insurance industry, underscores the growing prominence cloud computing, in which businesses tap computing power in a network instead of in-house data centers.

IntelePeer, which is also based in San Mateo, offers a cloud-based platform geared to the telecommunications industry. The company facilitates Internet messaging traffic across different networks.

The company is offering 7.5 million shares at a price of between $9 and $11 a share. IntelePeer is expected to price late Wednesday, and begin trading Thursday on the Nasdaq global Market under the ticker �PEER.�

In an e-mail, Scott Sweet of IPO Boutique said the �demand difference between Guidewire and IntelePeer was simply astronomical,� noting how the �price sensitivity� is toward the low end of the latter company�s range.

�Channel checks are still revealing that IntelePeer has not gained the traction and quality order book at the current range that I feel it needs,� he wrote.

A key factor appears to be the company�s financials, Sweet said in an interview. In 2011, the company said it had a loss of $9.6 million on revenue of $106.2 million, compared with a loss of $7.8 million on revenue of $80.45 million, according to an SEC filing.

�The financials are much weaker,� Sweet said, though he noted that the company is �in an interesting area,� referring to the steady rise of cloud-computing tech companies.