Shares of Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) consumer-health spinoff Kenvue surged as much as 22 percent to settle at $26.90 a share in Thursday's trade following its market debut on the New York Stock Exchange, making it the biggest US IPO in more than a year.

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Kenvue originally priced its initial public offering at $22 on Wednesday night, toward the high-end of its target price. The stock, which trades under the ticker 'KVUE', opened at $25.53 a share and traded well above its original IPO price.

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Thursday’s move values Kenvue at $50 billion roughly. The company, which initially planned to sell 151 million shares, sold 172.8 million shares in the offering, raising $3.8 billion and putting it at a valuation of roughly $41 billion.

J&J continues to hold 91.9% stake in Kenvue

J&J continues to hold a 91.9 percent stake in Kenvue, which holds a wealth of well-known consumer health brands including Band Aid, Aveeno, Listerine, Neutrogena, Tylenol, Johnson’s baby products, among others.

Ahead of the stock’s market debut, CEO Thibaut Mongon, who will sit on Kenvue’s board, told CNBC, "Millions of consumers around the world this morning wake up with a Kenvue product in their home.”

Mongon has previously served as J&J’s executive vice president and worldwide chair of consumer health.

Kenvue's initial share sale marks the largest restructuring move in J&J’s 135-year history, according to a CNBC report. Back in November 2021, J&J first announced the spinoff in an effort to streamline operations and refocus on its faster-growing medical devices and pharmaceutical divisions.

The report said that J&J will be able to control the direction of Kenvue’s business and matters that shareholders vote on for the time being: The health giant will own 1.7 billion shares of Kenvue’s common stock after the IPO completes, which represents a 90.9 percent stake. J&J will reduce the rest of its stake in Kenvue later in 2023.

Mongon further said that J&J has been “very clear” about its intent to separate from Kenvue this calendar year. “We do this from a position of strength. Kenvue is a healthy business,” he said while speaking to CNBC.

Kenvue's debut raises hopes that the muted US market for IPOs could be recovering after it collapsed in 2022. The firm's initial share sale raised more than every other offering so far in 2023, as per a report from Renaissance Capital.