Snap Inc. (SNAP) began trading on the NYSE on 2 March 17

Snap Inc's (SNAP) shares ended up 44% on their first day of trading as investors flocked to buy into the hottest technology stock offering in three years, overcoming doubts about the loss-making messaging app company's slowing user growth.

• The stock opened at $24.00 and closed at $24.48 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, well above the initial public offering price of $17 per share on Wednesday, giving the company a market value of $28.3 billion, on a par with CBS Corp (CBS) and Target Corp (TGT).
• Snap's IPO raised $3.4 billion at $17 per share, the most by a U.S.-based company since Facebook went public.
• That makes it the biggest U.S. technology IPO since Alibaba Group Holding Inc (BABA) in 2014, despite the fact that Snap has never made a profit.
• One big winner of the offering is Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), the lead underwriter in SNAP's public debut (it's set to bring in almost $26M in fees). Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), another key underwriter, could make as much as $21M from the listing.

Founders of Snapchat Evan Spiegel (L) and Bobby Murphy arrive at the Time 100 gala in New York, New York April 29, 2014

Murphy, left, and Spiegel, center, sign a guest book at the New York Stock Exchange as Snap celebrates its IPO on Thursday. Farley, president of the Exchange, pictured on the right.

Traders wait for shares of Snap Inc. to open for trading on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Thursday

Miranda Kerr and Spiegel got engaged this past summer. She's pictured above on the trading room floor on Thursday

A Snapchat sign hangs on the facade of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S. on January 23, 2017. 

Among the traders on the floor, men and women carried the company's video-camera glasses called Spectacles and stuffed versions of Snap's smiling ghost mascot.

Despite a nearly seven-fold increase in revenue, Los Angeles-based Snap's net loss widened 38 percent last year to $514.6 million. It faces intense competition from larger rivals such as Facebook's Instagram as it grapples with decelerating user growth.

The order book was more than 10 times oversubscribed and Snap could have priced the IPO at as much as $19 a share, but the company wanted to focus on securing mutual funds as long-term investors rather than hedge funds looking to quickly sell, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Shares of social media company Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) surged 93 percent when they first opened on the New York Stock Exchange in 2013, but are now trading at $15.84, down nearly 40 percent from the $26 IPO price and nearly 70 percent from the opening price of $50.09.

Jeffrey Sprecher, chief executive of Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE.N), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, stood in front of the trading post to monitor the hours-long pricing process, emphasizing the importance of the IPO going smoothly.