Annie’s, the maker of organic mac and cheese and bunny-shaped crackers, among other products, had the most successful initial public offering of the year today. The company priced its shares at $19 yesterday, but popped — as market watchers like to say — to $31 when the New York Stock Exchange opened this morning. Shares later rose to over $36 before settling just below $35 a half hour before the market close.

Annie’s moved its headquarters to Berkeley last year. The successful IPO means Annie’s becomes the third public listed company in Berkeley. The other two are Dynavax Technologies and XOMA.

Related:
Berkeley-based Annie’s files for $100 million IPO [12.02.11]
Annie’s plans move from Napa to Berkeley [01.07.11]

Lance Knobel (Berkeleyside co-founder) has been a journalist for nearly 40 years. Much of his career was in business journalism. He was editor-in-chief of both Management Today, the leading business magazine...