Yelp soars in first day of trading Shares in Yelp leapt 60 per cent on their market debut on Friday, the biggest one-day jump for a web company this year, as traders bet that it might soon become profitable. The business reviews website and mobile app is riding on a wave of investor enthusiasm for internet companies, sparked in part by Facebook's probable debut this year. Yelp's initial public offering, which raised $107m, was one of just four this year in the US to price above expectations, versus 11 that have priced below their initial range. But unlike LinkedIn and Zynga, Yelp loses money. Groupon and Angie's List, other lossmaking tech companies, have been weaker stock market performers since their IPOs. Yelp's shares priced at $15, above their projected range of $12-$14 a share, and rose to $26 in early trading. The NYSE-listed company is on track to see the biggest one-day gain of any internet company since Zillow last July. The deal was led by Goldman Sachs, along with Citigroup and Jefferies. At the highs hit early on Friday, Yelp is valued at $1.5bn, or roughly 18 times last year's sales of $83m. It made a net loss of $16.7m. The company was initially priced at just 10 times last year's sales. The hope among after-IPO buyers is that the company will quickly achieve profitability. Since it was founded in 2004, Yelp has attracted 66m monthly visitors to its service, which has 25m reviews of restaurants and other small businesses. Yelp's app was also the most-downloaded from the Apple Store for local dining last year. The company told investors it planned to grow outside the US, and will continue to expand non-advertising revenue such as coupons and sales directly to businesses. "Investors clearly want companies that have a path to big growth despite the difficult economy," said Max Wolff, senior analyst at GreenCrest Capital. But paying much more than 10 times sales for a company without profits in a competitive environment is asking an awful lot. Facebook and Google are ramping up their own products targeted at local businesses and customer reviews. Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp's chief executive, last year testified to congress that Google gives "preferential treatment" to its competing products. Mr Wolff said that his firm projects profitability for Yelp in late 2013, and that traders will be watching quarterly earnings reports closely to justify its pricing.