Daniel, when you buy stock in a company, you become a partial owner of it, and thus are entitled to a portion of its earnings (often times in the form of a dividend). It is these earnings that drive the appreciation (or depreciation) of the stock price. Theoretically, as earnings per share (eps) increases, so does the stock price. In the case of SBS, if they went public, they would have to share their earnings with the rest of us. Of course they realize the potential of their product(s), and have instead chosen to keep things private in order to increase their returns. There is no doubt in my mind, that they have solicited and received what is known as venture capital so that they could do their R&D. Now that the project is finally coming to fruition, said venture capitalists are in a position to profit heavily. SBS may very well IPO sometime in the future, but it will be after their product has been recognized and proven. This way, when they do go public, they can raise an incredible amount of money, based upon their reputation. Take Marketwatch for instance... had they IPO'ed a year ago, they wouldn't have made nearly as much money.
Of course, all of this is just my understanding of the pros and cons of taking a company public versus keeping it private. Bear in mind, I am only a second year business student, and have been trading for less than a year. I do however welcome constructive criticism.
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