The stock closed at $25.11 a day after the Indianapolis-based company sold 8.5 million shares at $19 apiece in an initial public offering that raised $161.5 million. The expected range was $15 to $17.

ExactTarget's subscription-based software helps companies communicate with customers through e-mail, mobile and social media. Its clients include Priceline.com, Microsoft Corp and Angie's List.

Revenue grew 55 percent in 2011 to $207.5 million, but the company's net loss widened to $35.4 million from $12.1 million.

"We've had a chance to invest in R&D and build our salesforce, but we believe over time we'll move back towards profitability," ExactTarget Chief Executive Scott Dorsey said in an interview.

The global cloud-computing market is expected to reach annual sales of $148.8 billion by 2014, according to information technology research company Gartner Inc.

ExactTarget's IPO is one of several recent stock debuts by companies that offer software as a service. Other strong market debuts in the so-called Software as Service sector within the last few months included Demandware Inc, Bazaarvoice Inc, Guidewire Inc and Jive Software Inc .

Underwriters of the IPO included JPMorgan Chase & Co, Deutsche Bank and Stifel Nicolaus Weisel.