Handspring Up Nearly 35% in 1st-Day Trading

Another closely watched IPO, Handspring Inc., came to market Wednesday and was promptly bid up 35% by investors in its first trades. But enthusiasm waned a bit as trading wore on.

Mountain View, Calif.-based Handspring (HAND), which makes hand-held electronic organizers that compete with the popular Palm devices, sold 10 million shares at $20 each late Tuesday. Wednesday the stock rose to $27 at the opening, traded as high as $28.25, then closed at $26.94.

“They’ve got a device people are clamoring for,” said analyst Bruce Kasrel at Forrester Research. “It shows there’s definitely a lot of attention being lavished on hand-helds despite the recent lovely ‘dot-com’ exodus” of investors.

Still, Handspring’s debut was nothing like rival Palm’s (PALM). Palm’s IPO in early March was at $38 a share, and the stock quickly rose to $165. It has since plunged with the tech sector’s swoon.

On Wednesday Palm added 63 cents to $27.75.