Lyft's stock popped as much as 23 percent in its debut on the public market Friday. Shares opened at $87.24 a piece and ultimately settled to modest gains. The initial public offering marks the first debut from a heavyweight class of tech companies going public in 2019. Lyft said Thursday that it sold 32.5 million shares — more than expected — at $72 apiece. That's at the high end of the stated range, which was already boosted from an initial range of $62 to $68. That means the company raised about $2.3 billion from the listing. The stock ended trading 8.7 percent up at $78.29 — something of a modest IPO for such a giant tech company. Appetite for the stock was strong though, with more than 6 million shares traded at the open. More than 70 million shares exchanged hands by market close. Lyft ended its first day with a market valuation to $22.2 billion.

"This is a lightning start for Lyft's stock as investors are salivating [over] owning a piece of the $1 trillion ride sharing market," Wedbush managing director Dan Ives said in a statement to CNBC. "The robust start to trading is also a clear positive for other tech names that are watching Lyft to gauge investor demand and Street reaction on this transformational consumer tech name." The No. 2 ride-hailing company revealed skyrocketing revenue in its IPO prospectus, but posted a 2018 loss of $900 million. The stock's early performance will serve as something of a litmus test for public investors and their tolerance for mature, not-yet-profitable tech giants. "We're ready to be held accountable. We're excited," co-founder and President John Zimmer told CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin in an interview on "Squawk Box" on Friday morning. "In our case, I think what we've seen in talking to investors [is] that more people are maybe surprised to see the numbers that we're putting out and I think this is a great part of the process. For us this wasn't the goal — this is a milestone along the way — but we feel like it helps us with additional access to capital."