VMware Inc. shares soared 79 percent in the software maker's trading debut early Tuesday, a start following an initial public offering that initially lived up to hopes that it could be Wall Street's hottest IPO of the year.

The stock was quoted at $52 on the New York Stock Exchange, up from Monday's IPO price of $29.

EMC Corp. (EMC.N: Quote, Profile, Research), its parent and the world's biggest maker of corporate data storage gear, sold 33 million class A shares to the public. That accounts for about 9 percent of the 375 million shares of common stock in VMware.

Underwriters have an option to buy an additional 4.95 million shares.

So far this year the top-performing U.S.-listed IPO has been Fortress Investment Group LLC (FIG.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which climbed 67.6 percent on its Feb. 8 trading debut.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle)