In the lead-up to Snap's (SNAP) - Get Report successful IPO on Thursday, many investors were already comparing the company to Facebook (FB) - Get Report and Twitter (TWTR) - Get Report .

Like Facebook, Snapchat has become a hot social media platform for millennials with 161 million daily average users. But some investors worry that it may slowly disappoint over time like Twitter, with plateauing user growth and revenue.

Snap's shares rose an impressive 44% on Thursday. Twitter crushed that stat with a 73% jump on its first trading day in 2013. Facebook had a disappointing IPO in 2012, with its shares jumping a measly 0.61% on their first day.

The difference in a company's first-day share price may be partly due to the simple law of supply and demand, said Nicholas Einhorn, an analyst with Renaissance Capital, who covers Snap. In addition to other market factors, Snap was probably the beneficiary of good timing -- its launch came the day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all hit fresh record highs. The financial markets have been red-hot since the election of President Donald Trump, although they declined overall on Thursday.

But a robust IPO is no guarantee of future success for a company or its investors. Facebook's shares have soared since the company's dismal IPO, and Twitter's have tanked.

While no one figure can tell the whole story, here's a closer look at each of these three big tech IPOs.

Snap Inc. IPO

Pricing point: $17

Opening price: $24

Closing price: $24.48

Shares changing hands: More than 200 million

Five-year-old Snap soared on its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, closing up 44% to $24.48.

The stock began trading at $24 per share, which was 41.2% more than the $17 price set Wednesday afternoon. Throughout the day shares fluctuated between $26.05 and $23.50.

By the end of the session more than 200 million shares had changed hands, which accounted for about 10% of the total trading volume on the NYSE for Thursday, CNBCreported.

Facebook IPO

Pricing point: $38

Opening price: $42.05

Closing price: $38.37

Shares changing hands: 567 million

Facebook went public on May 18, 2012, eight years after it was founded.

The social media giant saw its stock open on the Nasdaq at $42.05, almost an 11% jump from the $38 price set the Thursday night before its IPO. However, the stock finished up just 0.61% to $38.37.

Facebook, which is closing in on 2 billion monthly active users, saw its stock hover around $38 for much of its first day, despite that initial 11% jump.

Facebook's IPO was notably messy with technical errors in its IPO software affecting millions of shares. "This was not our finest hour," NASDAQ's chief executive officer Robert Greifeld said, according to Bloomberg. "We're not happy with our performance."

While the price didn't see a dramatic climb, the number of shares that changed hands was high. By the end of the day, 567 million shares had changed hands.

Facebook shares have done quite well since the company's IPO. They closed at $136.76 on Thursday.

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Twitter IPO

Pricing point: $26

Opening price: $45.10

Closing price: $44.90

Shares changing hands: More than 117.3 million

Twitter went public on November 7, 2013 on the NYSE, about seven years after it was founded.

The social media company's stock was priced at $26 the night before its Thursday IPO. The stock began trading with an opening price that jumped 74% to $45.10. However, like Facebook, the stock didn't move much after its initial jump and closed the day up 73% to $44.90.

By the end of the day, over 117 million shares had changed hands.

Twitter's stock has not fared well since its IPO. It closed at $15.79 on Thursday.