• by August 20, 2004

Surprise, surprise. Google's stock hit a high of $104.06 on its first day of trading. The stock closed yesterday at $100.34 per share. Not bad, considering the offering price was set at $85, but not so staggering either.

It's just par for the course for Google's rollercoaster-ish ride on the IPO train. The search giant had hoped to raise as much as $3 billion; it's now settling for trying to raise $1.67 billion. Shares were supposed to reach as high as $135 apiece; they were offered at $85 apiece. The company also reduced the number of shares it offered from 25.7 million to 19.6 million.

A cloud continues to hang over the Google IPO: A SEC investigation into Google's issuance of 23.2 million shares of common stock and 5.6 million shares of unexercised options may have violated securities laws. The Google founders' interview with Playboy magazine during a quiet period is also under investigation. All of these woes may end up in civil penalties.

For all the decreased expectations, Google shares managed to realize an 18 percent jump in their first day of trading. Today, at mid-day on its second day of trading, shares were up 2.8 percent to $103.12. Ah, maybe meteoric expectations aren't appropriate anymore. I'm sure the Google gang is just grateful the IPO got off the ground.