Foundry Networks arrived on the stock market with something rare for a 1999 tech offering: real profits. Networks were moving from megabits to gigabits, and the companies building them needed faster switches. Foundry made high-performance Ethernet gear that went straight at Cisco on speed and price. When it filed to go public in the fall of 1999, networking stocks were among the market's favorites.

Its Own Chips, Fast

Bobby Johnson founded Foundry in 1996. He bet that gigabit Ethernet would spread from the backbone to the data center and the enterprise. He also bet that a focused company could build faster switches than the incumbents. Foundry designed its own chips and brought products to market fast. It sold heavily to internet providers and hosting companies that needed raw speed, and its sales grew quickly.

A 500 Percent First Day

Foundry priced at $25 a share in September 1999 and closed its first day above $156, a gain of more than 500 percent. The crash cut its value sharply, but the company stayed profitable and independent for nearly a decade. In 2008 Brocade bought Foundry for about $2.6 billion, after it lowered its original offer during the financial crisis. Foundry became part of Brocade's data center networking line.

Cover: Blacksmith, Eugène Delacroix. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a blacksmith at the forge (the foundry).