A Hungry Man's IPO Wish List

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- It's IPO time again, and there's more excitement around some of the new public offerings than I've seen in years.

Admittedly, the Facebook(FB) IPO, the granddaddy of them all, did not thrill me, and my opinion has not changed now that it has been public for two months.

But seeing Five Below(FIVE) hit the markets yesterday was exciting. Here's a name that I can understand, a store that I frequent with my kids, and one of those unique businesses that has been on my wish list of companies I'd hoped would ultimately go public.

But it's already off to the races, and already expensive. The stock soared yesterday, finishing at $26.50, nearly 56% above the offering price. That puts the current market cap in the $1.4 billion range for the 199 store chain, which generated $297 million in revenue for 2011. Five times revenue is pricy.

Five Below does have bold expansion plans for up to 2,000 locations, 10 times the current store-count. This is one that I'll be watching; its' a great concept that would no doubt have consumed some of my lawn-mowing, dish-washing and paper-route earnings had the chain existed during my youth.

It's too rich for my blood following the IPO hype, but I'll be following the name, its progress, and potentially looking for an entry point. The problem is I'm a value investor, and that means that I'm cheap.