IDG Contributor Network: Why Wall Street is so interested in Square

Watching a lot of the commentary and excitement last week about Square's Thursday (Nov. 19) IPO, one might think that Wall Street had never been given a shot at a retail POS investment before. The truth is that, in many of the ways that count, it hadn't.

First, there was all of the focus on Square's IPO price of $9, a steep drop from the $11 to $13 it had projected in its prospectus several months ago. Square (SQ, NYSE) ended up on Friday at $12.85. That suggests one of two scenarios. One, that Wall Street concluded "You guys were right the first time." Or two, that Square's people were being cagey, opting to low-ball its opening figure so that Wall Street would move the stock up, which would make for a more upbeat story.

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