The IPO Calendar generally takes a short break for the Memorial Day holiday and this year looks to be no different. In past years, the holiday-shortened week produced slim pickings for Wall Street’s investment bankers.
A quick reading gives us these stats:
- In 2018, two unit offerings were priced.
- In 2017, a single unit offering was priced.
- In 2016, two small-cap IPOs and a single unit offering were priced.
- In 2015, nothing got out the door.
- In 2014, one small-cap IPO was priced.
But the countdown to Memorial Day didn’t mean the IPO market was closed. Last week – Monday, May 20, through Friday, May 24 – was busy for those burning the late-night oil.
New Blood on Wall Street
Four IPOs were priced last week, but that stat does not nearly capture all of the fun. A total of 14 companies filed to go public, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s filing window. In this era of confidential IPO filings (file today and go public within the next month or so) these are strong signals that new blood is rushing to Wall Street. And the summer of 2019 is just around the corner.
Note: For details on last week’s traffic, please check the home page of IPOScoop.com and go to the bottom of the page: Click on Archive and then click on “IPO Traffic: Week Ending May 24, 2019.” Here’s the link: https://www.iposcoop.com/ipo-traffic-week-ending-may-24-2019/
A May to Remember
Looking back over this month, May 2019 was the second-busiest May in 19 years. A total of 31 IPOs have been priced so far in May 2019 versus an average of 17 IPOs for May over the last 19 years. The most productive May was in 2007 when 35 IPOs were priced.
And June 2019 is just around the corner.
June’s First Week
For the week of June 3, 2019, the IPO Calendar is blank. But anything can happen when the SEC’s filing window opens again for business on Tuesday morning.
Stay tuned.
Disclosure: Neither the author nor anyone else on the IPOScoop.com staff has a position in any stocks mentioned, nor do we trade or invest in IPOs. The author and IPOScoop.com staff do not issue advice, recommendations or opinions.