SunPower Shares Climb 41% in Debut Session

This week’s second initial public offering in the technology sector got off to a strong start Thursday, the first day of trading of SunPower Corp.

Shares of the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based maker of solar-power products closed at $25.45 on the Nasdaq Stock Market -- up $7.45, or 41%, from the IPO price of $18 a share.

SunPower, which was a unit of Cypress Semiconductor Corp. until its carve-out this week, sold 7.7 million Class A shares at the high end of the expected range set by underwriters Credit Suisse First Boston and Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. Cyprus still owns 87% of SunPower.

The underwriters boosted the targeted, per-share price range Tuesday to $16 to $18 from $12 to $14.

SunPower’s IPO follows on the disappointing debut of Chinese semiconductor designer Vimicro International Corp. on Tuesday. Its stock closed Thursday at $9.25, down 86 cents. The stock was priced at $10 on Monday, and fell to $8.36 on its first day of trading Tuesday.

Vimicro’s prospectus revealed concerns about its accounting controls, including a lack of personnel with U.S. accounting experience, and warned that it might be unable to fix its problems in that area.

SunPower had no such accounting issues. Its role as a high-power solar-cell maker comes at a time when the world is grappling with rising energy costs from traditional petroleum sources, and governments are likely to continue or increase the financial incentives for the use of alternative energy products like solar cells.

But SunPower’s deal wasn’t without risk: The company, which was incorporated in 1985, has reported net losses since its inception, and warns it might never become profitable.

Currently, it is contending with an industry-wide shortage of polysilicon, the primary material in its products, which has led to price increases.