Alibaba shares opened at $92.70 a share on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, in the biggest initial public offering in history. The Chinese online retailer raised almost $22 billion in an initial public offering that will make the Chinese e-commerce brand one of the most valuable companies in the world. More than 100 million shares were traded within the first 10 minutes of Alibaba's market debut.
"This is the biggest IPO the world has ever seen, so there’s a celebratory mood on the floor, whether you like it or not," said Benedict Willis, director of floor operations at Sunrise Securities Corp on the NYSE floor. Alibaba is nearly unknown to most Americans but is ubiquitous in China, where it is responsible for 80 percent of online sales. The company earned $3.7 billion in the 12 months ended March 31, 2014, up about $2 billion from the prior 12-month period.
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-- CNBC.com and Reuters contributed to this report.
