Wall Street’s September sky is full of IPOs soaring into the wild blue yonder this week. Five of the seven IPOs that started trading on Wednesday, Sept. 15, jumped 50 percent or more from their IPO prices. Four of those deals popped 60 percent or more in their debuts, with one – DICE Therapeutics (DICE) – more than doubling its IPO price – to score a moonshot. A total of nine IPOs made their debuts on Wednesday, including two tiny deals – EzFill Holdings (EZFL) and Pasithea Therapeutics (KTTA). In addition, five SPACs started trading on Wednesday. The session goes down in the IPO annals as the third-busiest trading day of the year, according to Bloomberg.
The trend continued on Thursday. Only two IPOs started trading. ForgeRock, Inc. (FORG) shot up 46 percent from its IPO price of $25 to close Thursday at $36.50 and Enact Holdings, Inc. (ACT) gained 7.8 percent from its IPO price of $19 to close Thursday at $20.49. One SPAC made its debut as well. Thursday’s deal volume was subdued, which some attributed to the calendar’s date. Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish year, began at sunset on Wednesday and ended at sunset on Thursday. (Some Wall Street veterans said that in the past, no deals were priced to start trading on Yom Kippur.)
“It’s ‘risk on,’ baby. All the deals are working. The only problem is getting stock,” a veteran IPO pro says.
The IPO market is on track for another record year. So far, 332 IPOs and 416 unit offerings (mostly SPACs) have been priced in 2021, according to IPOScoop’s 2021 IPO Scorecard. The growing IPO pipeline points to prospects for at least another 100 IPOs to get priced before the end of the year.
In 2020, a total of 465 deals were priced – 219 IPOs and 246 unit offerings (SPACs accounted for most of the unit offerings), IPOScoop records show.
SNOW Time
Snowflake (SNOW), the data cloud company, went public a year ago amid a frenzy of excitement. The IPO, priced at $120, started trading on Sept. 16, 2020, and the stock skyrocketed to $253.93 in its first day of trading.
“I was hoping for SNOW and I only got a few flakes,” one IPO investor said, recalling his disappointment over his small allocation.
Fast forward to Sept. 16, 2021: Snowflake closed at $323.52 – up 169 percent from its IPO price.
Golden Gains
Worth noting: Most of Wednesday’s IPOs were priced above range or at the top of their price range and most were increased in size at pricing as well. Let’s take a look at the seven IPOs that soared in their trading debuts on Wednesday:
*DICE Therapeutics (DICE) – Up 117 percent from its $17 IPO price to close its first day of trading at $36.89; on Thursday, the stock closed at $34.75. DICE Therapeutics is developing a drug to treat psoriasis. DICE is the first moonshot of September. A moonshot occurs when a stock jumps 100 percent or more from its IPO price on the first day of trading.
*PROCEPT BioRobotics (PRCT) – Up 67.76 percent from its $25 IPO price to close its first day of trading at $41.94; on Thursday, the stock closed at $35.91. PROCEPT BioRobotics makes and sells the AquaBeam Robotic System, which is used in minimally invasive urologic surgery to treat benign enlarged prostrate, a condition that affects about 40 million men in the United States.
*Tyra Biosciences (TYRA) – Up 62.5 percent from its $16 IPO price to close its first day of trading at $26; on Thursday, the stock closed at $20.81. Tyra Biosciences’ leading drug candidate, TYRA-300, is a treatment for bladder cancer.
*Definitive Healthcare (DH) – Up 60.33 percent from its $27 IPO price to close its first day of trading at $43.29; on Thursday, the stock closed at $47.22. Definitive Healthcare provides a cloud-based commercial intelligence platform for biopharmaceutical companies, medical device makers, physicians’ groups, hospitals and others in the healthcare sector.
*Dutch Bros, Inc. (BROS) – Up 59.48 percent from its $23 IPO price to close its first day of trading at $36.68; on Thursday, the stock closed at $48.00. Dutch Bros is a drive-through coffee chain, based in Oregon, with a cult following for its coffee and its non-coffee drinks.
*On Holding AG (ONON) – Up 45.83 percent from its $24 IPO price to close its first day of trading at $35; on Thursday, the stock closed at $37.49. On Holding, an athletic shoe company, is backed by tennis icon Roger Federer; he also designed a shoe for the company.
*Thoughtworks Holding, Inc. (TWKS) – Up 39.95 percent from its $21 IPO price to close its first day of trading at $29.39; on Thursday, the stock closed at $31.46. Thoughtworks is a software engineering firm that serves corporate clients.
The average gain for IPOs priced so far in 2021 is 12.32 percent, based on data through the market’s close on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021, according to the 2021 IPO Scorecard (see chart on IPOScoop’s home page). In comparison, the NASDAQ Composite Index is up 16.68 percent.
The tally for the week of Sept. 13, 2021, is a total of 19 deals, which breaks down to 12 IPOs and seven blank check companies, also known as special-purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs. Bankers raised a total of about $5.26 billion – about $4.06 billion from the 12 IPOs and about $1.2 billion from the seven SPACs priced this week.
For the month of September so far, 24 deals have been priced – 12 IPOs and 12 SPACs. The first IPO of the month was priced this week. During Labor Day week, there were five deals – all SPACs.
The IPO pipeline also keeps growing at a steady clip with 17 new filings – nine IPOs and eight SPACs – flowing in so far this week at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (See: IPO Pipeline)
Sour Bet
The week did not begin on such a happy note. Sportradar Group AG (SRAD), a sports betting data provider based in Switzerland, priced its IPO at $27 on Monday night, Sept. 13. The stock slid 7.24 percent to close at $25.05 in its NASDAQ debut on Tuesday. Since then, the stock has recovered a bit and is trading at around $26.92 today (Friday, Sept. 17, 2021).
Sportradar attracted a lot of interest, thanks to the star power of its minority investors, basketball legend Michael Jordan and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. The IPO had a healthy book. But some IPO investors balked at its valuation.
SPAC Tracker
For the month of September so far: 12 SPACs have gone public, raising $2.06 billion. (Please check out the SPAC profiles via IPOScoop’s IPO Index, which lists deals alphabetically by the company’s name.)
Seven SPACs were priced this week, raising $1.2 billion:
*Priced Monday night to trade Tuesday, Sept. 14: Pacifico Acquisition (PAFOU) – $50 million
*Priced Tuesday night to trade Wednesday, Sept. 15: Aesther Healthcare Acquisition (AEHAU) – $100 million; CIIG Capital Partners II Corp. (CIIGU) – $250 million; Endurance Acquisition (EDNCU) – $200 million; Sierra Lake Acquisition (SIERU) – $300 million, and WinVest Acquisition (WINVU)- $100 million
*Priced Wednesday night to trade Thursday, Sept. 16: SOAR Technology Acquisition (FLYA.U)- $200 million
Flip back to Labor Day week, the week of Sept. 6, 2021: Five SPACs were priced, raising $860 million. Here’s the SPAC parade for the four trading days after the Labor Day holiday:
*Priced Tuesday night to trade Wednesday, Sept. 8: Banner Acquisition (BNNRU) – $150 million
*Priced Thursday night to trade Friday, Sept. 10: Bannix Acquisition (BNIXU) – $60 million; First Light Acquisition (FLAG.U) – $200 million; Future Health ESG (FHLTU) – $200 million and SILVERspac (SLVRU) – $250 million
Week of Sept. 20, 2021
Thirteen deals have been scheduled so far for the week of Sept. 20, 2021. This “baker’s dozen” on the IPO Calendar includes 12 traditional IPOs plus one NASDAQ uplift, which is the Argo Blockchain Plc (ARBK proposed) deal. An uplift offering is technically not an IPO.
Names to note on next week’s IPO Calendar: Toast, Inc. (TOST proposed), which provides software solutions for restaurants, and Remitly Global, Inc. (RELY proposed), a digital payments platform that caters to immigrants sending money to their families in their home countries.
The following week, two direct listings are in the spotlight: Amplitude (AMPL proposed) set for Sept. 28 on the NASDAQ and Warby Parker (WRBY proposed) set for Sept. 29 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Stay tuned.
(For more information, please check the IPO Calendar and click on a company’s name, which will take you to the IPO Profile and a link to the prospectus.)
(Never trade on proposed symbols. You might wind up owning something on the OTC Bulletin Board.)
Disclosure: Nobody on the IPOScoop.com staff has a position in any stocks mentioned above, nor do they trade or invest in IPOs. The IPOScoop.com staff does not issue advice, recommendations or opinions.
Disclaimer: A SCOOP Rating (Wall Street Consensus of Opening-day Premiums), is a general consensus taken, at press time, from Wall Street and investment professionals concerning how well an IPO might perform when it starts trading. The SCOOP Rating does not reflect the opinions of anyone associated with IPOScoop.com. The SCOOP ratings should not be taken as investment advice. The rating merely reflects the opinion of the professionals at the time of publication and is subject to last-minute changes due to market conditions, changes in a specific offering and other factors, such as changes in the proposed offering terms and the shifting of investor interest in the IPO. The information offered is taken from sources we believe to be reliable, but we cannot guarantee the accuracy.