Category Archives: The IPO Buzz

The merry month of June rolls into Wall Street this week and ushers in what some call “the summer doldrums,” but that ain’t necessarily so. Although only one IPO is on this week’s horizon, that’s not a downbeat sign in today’s market. Dating back to 1970, the average IPO traffic of June, July and August amounts to 27.2 percent of the annual IPO volume. Note: A three-month period amounts to 25 percent.

 

 

This week’s calendar totals eight IPOs that aim to raise $2.85 billion. Their expected trading dates follow the fast-track timetable of the 2014 new-issues calendar. The scenario covers 10 trading days. Most companies file their proposed pricing terms on a Monday morning and land on the calendar to trade the following week on Thursday or Friday.

 

 

The Chinese are coming, the Chinese are coming was the buzz in Wall Street’s IPO market last week. Alibaba filed its long awaited and highly anticipated billion-dollar initial public offering last Tuesday. Two more Chinese IPOs were priced during the week, raising the total so far this year to seven in the U.S. capital markets.

 

 

Over the last few weeks, it’s been a rough trip through the IPO briar patch. But things are looking up, IPO professionals say.

 

 

The best thing that can be said for today’s stock market is that it is in a consolidation phase. It’s not in a correction. And it’s certainly not in a bear market. Any way you look at it, this is not a breeding ground for an IPO market.

 

It was down and dirty around the IPO pricing window last week. Ten deals came to market. All were priced below their original offering terms. Marking down merchandise usually does not give investors magical first-day returns. This time proved to be the exception to the rule. They caught lightning in a bottle.

 

A 410-point freefall in the Dow Jones Industrial Average last week during a two-day span raised concerns about the outlook for the future IPO calendar. So far this year, there have been two other periods marked by a two-day drop of 400-plus points in the Dow, and neither slowed the IPO traffic.

 

It looks like fast times in the IPO market these days. Since the beginning of March 2014, 58 companies filed to go public, 58 companies updated their filing plans, and 39 IPOs have been priced, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings. As impressive as these numbers are, today’s IPO calendar is not in a bubble mode. Actually, today’s traffic is BELOW the average for the last 34 years.

 

 

The good, the bad and the ugly all surfaced in last week’s IPO market. None were expected.