Jefferson Capital (NASDAQ: JCAP), a consumer debt buyer, saw its stock price soar by 26.67% during intraday trading on Thursday, marking a spectacular debut on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The company's shares opened at $19, significantly higher than its initial public offering (IPO) price of $15, and continued to climb throughout the trading session.

The strong performance comes on the heels of Jefferson Capital's successful IPO, which raised $150 million by selling 10 million shares at $15 each, the lower end of its marketed range of $15 to $17. The offering included 625,000 shares from the company itself, while the remaining 9.4 million shares were sold by existing stockholders, including investment firm J.C. Flowers.

Investors' enthusiasm for Jefferson Capital reflects growing interest in the company's business model, which focuses on purchasing and managing charged-off and insolvency consumer accounts. The Minnesota-based firm operates primarily in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Latin America. At the IPO price, Jefferson Capital was valued at $972.2 million, but the surge in stock price suggests the market is assigning an even higher valuation to the company.