The IPO Buzz: All Aboard the IPO Train

This week’s calendar lists nine health-care IPOs and a restaurant chain. The July 28, 2014, calendar priced 10 IPOs from the health-care sector and one from the restaurant-chain sector. Back in late July 2014, the health-care sector had hits and misses and the restaurant chain had a big pop, much like what today’s IPO experts are predicting for this week’s calendar. Let’s take a look at the present.

 

Listed below are a couple of IPOs that are on somebody’s “most wanted” list:

 

Adaptimmune Therapeutics (ADAP – proposed) is a UK-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on cancer immunotherapy products based on its T-cell receptor platform. T cells are a type of white blood cells. The company’s proprietary platform lets it identify cancer targets in the form of peptides, find and genetically engineer T-cell receptors and produce therapeutic candidates for administration to patients.

 

Adaptimmune Therapeutics has a collaboration and licensing agreement with GlaxoSmithKline.

(For more information, please click here: Adaptimmune Therapeutics)

 

Note: Here’s a sampling of recent IPOs engaged in cancer immunotherapy products: Aduro Biotech (ADRO) was priced at $17 per share on April 14, 2015, and closed Friday, May 1, 2015, at $26.09, UP 53.5 percent from its IPO price (it did sell at a high of $49.25 on April 16); Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) was priced at $24 per share on Dec. 18, 2014, and closed Friday at $44.82, UP 86.8 percent from its IPO price; and Kite Pharma (KITE) was priced at $17 per share on June 19, 2014, and closed Friday at $51.41, UP 202.4 percent from its IPO price.

 

 

Bojangles (BOJA – proposed) is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based fast-food restaurant chain offering its famous made-from-scratch biscuits baked every 20 minutes, its fresh, never-frozen bone-in fried chicken, its unique fixin’s and its Legendary Iced Tea. The company operates about 662 company-owned and franchised restaurants, mostly in the Southeastern United States. Bojangles generated over $1 billion in system-wide sales in fiscal 2014. 

(For more information, please click here: Bojangles)

 

Note: As of Friday’s close on May 1, 2015, Shake Shack (SHAK), the New York City-based modern “roadside” burger stand, was 2015’s top-performing IPO. It was priced at $21 per share on Jan. 29 and closed Friday at $70.75, UP 236.9 percent from its IPO price.

 

Below are the two top-performing IPOs from the calendar of July 28, 2014. And guess what? One is from the health-care sector and the other from the restaurant sector.  

 

 

Avalanche Biotechnologies (AAVL) is a Menlo Park, California-based clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing novel gene therapies to treat patients with ophthalmic diseases that threaten their vision. Its IPO was priced at $17 per share on July 31, 2014; it closed its opening day at $27.99, UP 64.7 percent. Avalanche closed Friday, May 1, 2015, at $33.17, UP 95.1 percent from its IPO price. (It did sell at a high of $62.48 on Jan. 8, 2015.)

 

 

El Pollo Loco Holdings (LOCO) is a Costa Mesa, California-based restaurant chain that specializes in fire-grilled citrus-marinated chicken in about 401 restaurants in California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas and Utah. Its IPO was priced at $15 per share on July 24, 2014, and closed its opening day at $24.03, UP 60.2 percent. El Pollo closed Friday, May 1, at $26.49, UP 76.6 percent from its IPO price.

 

Looking into next week, the IPO calendar has two offerings. Nevertheless, the calendar has been known to fill up quickly on Monday mornings. This time last week, the calendar for the week of May 4 had just two deals; now it has 14 IPOs.