Wow! What does this say for these companies and for the market? Aivars Lode
The market for initial public offerings has taken a hit, and it would be easy to lay the blame on an overhyped office-sharing outfit and a maker of $2,000 exercise bikes.
Reality is more complicated though. The fact is, even many of the seemingly hot debuts this year have been much less so for most ordinary investors. Most big new tech issues from this year are trading below their opening prices from their first day of trading. That includes several that scored strong first-day “pops” relative to their public offering prices. This was the case even before WeWork pulled its listing plans last month, casting a pall over the IPO market that carried over to Peloton’s disappointing debut late last week.
Of the 14 notable tech IPOs so far this year, only three—Zoom Video, Pinterest and Fastly —are currently above their first-day opens, based on Monday’s closing prices. The broader IPO market has fared a little better, though not by much. About one-third of IPOs tracked by Dealogic this year are above their opening prices.