Snap Inc. made an explosive initial public offering on Thursday as the price of its stock rose 44 percent to close at $24.48 a share following its debut at $17.

The parent company of disappearing content app Snapchat, Snap Inc. was valued at $28.3 billion at the close of the market. After the firm reported slowing user growth in the last six month via its financial filings, stock watchers were nervously scrutinizing the Venice-based tech company’s IPO for any sign of softness.

Snap did not disappoint. At one point in the day its stock rose as high as $26.05 a share. The company sold 200 million shares to raise $3.4 billion.