Ubiquiti shares rise in Nasdaq debut

Investors shrugged off concerns over a U.S. government review of the company’s sales into Iran and other countries to send its shares 16.0 percent above the $15 IPO price in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq. The shares were at $17.40 after going as high as $19.00, up 26.7 percent, earlier in the session.Ubiquiti makes wireless networking and video surveillance equipment. It priced 7.04 million shares at $15 on Thursday, the bottom of a lowered price range.Europe’s debt crisis and a weak economic recovery in the United States have made it difficult to price new issues. Most companies have opted to delay their IPOs until there is less volatility.”A lot of companies have walked away. It’s encouraging to see this deal work,” said Morningnotes.com founder and IPO analyst Ben Holmes.Holmes said the company’s revenue growth and gross margins are impressive, and that after it cut the share price — Ubiquiti sold shares for $6 below the midpoint of its original price range — investors probably felt they were getting a good deal.Ubiquiti’s revenue has risen sharply in each of the last five years. It was profitable in each of those years except 2010.In fiscal 2011, ended June 30, Ubiquiti posted net income attributable to common stockholders of $4.98 million on revenue of $197.87 million. Its gross margin during that period was 41 percent.Rising markets likely also helped the share sale. The S&P 500 index .INX.SPX is up 13 percent so far on Friday from an intraday low on October 4.SALES INTO IRANWhile Ubiquiti is getting applause for completing its IPO, sales of its products into countries including Iran are being reviewed by the U.S. government.Most of Ubiquiti’s revenue in fiscal 2011 — 70 percent — came from overseas, and one of the penalties it could face would be loss of its right to export.But analysts said the portion of its exports related to Iran appeared to be small and getting smaller.Ubiquiti said it had found two distributors selling its products into Iran. Over the past three years, one distributor accounted for 7, 6 and 4 percent of its revenue and the other’s sales into Iran were not a “material portion” of the distributor’s business with Ubiquiti, the company said.”It looks like they have dealt with this,” Morningnotes.com’s Holmes said.Ubiquiti said in its IPO prospectus that certain of its products were sold to Iran, Cuba, Syria, Sudan and North Korea and that some of its encryption components were sold without the appropriate export authorization.It said it did not mean to violate U.S. law but that violations occurred due to a “lean corporate infrastructure,” an inexperienced management team, and the fact that most of its manufacturing and sales are outside the United States.The company is headquartered in San Jose, California.It said it has since revised its distribution agreements, disabled software downloads in certain countries, and obtained appropriate paperwork for its encryption products.It said one U.S. government review of its sales into Iran resulted in a warning letter, and a second review is pending. The second review, by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, could result in Ubiquiti facing fines, losing its ability to export, and being referred for criminal prosecution, the company said in the risk factors section of its prospectus.In fiscal 2010, Ubiquiti recorded an expense of $1.6 million for export compliance, which it said is its best estimate of its exposure to fines.U.S. relations with Iran are particularly sensitive right now because of an alleged attempt by Iran to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador in Washington.As of June 30, Ubiquiti had 92 full-time-equivalent employees in four offices globally. It has no direct sales force but instead relies on distributors, resellers and original equipment manufacturers. Ubiquiti Chief Executive Robert Pera is a former wireless engineer at Apple Inc. (AAPL.O)Underwriters on the IPO were led by UBS Investment Bank (UBSN.VX) (UBS.N), Deutsche Bank Securities (DBKGn.DE) and Raymond James.