SHARE prices of Phunware Inc, a newly public cloud software provider that manages the app development lifecycle, surged more than 2,000% from last year’s low, after the US company consummated its merger with Stellar Acquisition Inc in late December, said Bloomberg.

Malaysian investment fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd is the company’s biggest investor with 2.2 million shares, while chief technology officer Luan Dang became the second-largest holder with a 683,534-share stake.

Shares ended 2018 at US$14.26 (RM58.40) and closed at a record US$220 on Wednesday, according to the report.

The stock extended its gains through Thursday,  surging as high as US$550, then subsequently turned sharply lower, dipping 29% on the day at US$157.

At current levels, Phunware has a market capitalisation of about US$4.4 billion, up from US$56.5 million at the end of last year.

Austin, Texas-based Phunware yesterday issued a press release announcing that it had been granted a patent related to monitoring the location of mobile devices both indoors and outdoors.

The company didn’t immediately return a request for comment. – January 11, 2019.