The views of the IPO handicappers make up the general consensus of the SCOOP ratings – “Street Consensus of Opening Premiums.”

 

TechTarget (NADSAQ: TTGT proposed) is this week’s favorite (at its current filing range). The company is looking to price 7.7 million shares at $12 to $14 each to raise about $100 million.

 

{mosgoogle}TechTarget is a Needham, Massachusetts-based provider of specialized online content that brings together buyers and sellers of corporate information technology products. It also publishes magazines tailored to specific IT professionals and runs conferences. The company operates a network of about 35 Web sites, each of which focuses on a specific IT sector, such as storage, security or networking –- all magic words.

 

In 2006, TechTarget claimed to have delivered more than 3,400 advertising campaigns to over 1,000 active advertisers, including Cisco, Dell, EMC, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, Research In Motion, SAP and Symantec, and supplied more than 1.1 million sales leads to IT vendors.

 

The company reported Q1 2007 revenues of $18.3 million, up 22.8 percent from $14.9 million in Q1 2006, and operating income of $11.6 million in Q1 2007, up 27.5 percent from $9.1 million in Q1 2006.

 

EnerNOC (NASDAQ: ENOC proposed) could be one of the week’s surprises. The company is looking to price 3.75 million shares at $21 to $23 each to raise $82.5 million. With joint-lead managers such as Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley, there isn’t a lot of stock to go around.

 

EnerNOC is a Boston, Massachusetts-based provider of clean and intelligent power solutions. The company’s Network Operations Center remotely manages and reduces electricity consumption across a network of commercial, institutional and industrial customer sites. Its specialty is demand response. That’s the voluntary reduction of power demand when the grid is unstable or wholesale electricity prices are high. In turn, this cuts peak electricity demand and helps stabilize the grid, according to EnerNOC. 

 

The company reported Q1 2007 revenues of $10 million, up 96.1 percent from $5.1 million in Q1 2006, and a net loss of $4 million in Q1 2007, wider than a net loss of $2 million in Q1 2006.

 

But here’s what has caught people’s attention.

 

Comverge (NASDAQ: COMV), an East Hanover, New Jersey-based provider of clean energy software to electric utilities and other energy suppliers, priced 5.3 million shares at $18 each on April 12, 2007. That was up a plan to offer 4.67 million shares at $15 to $17 each. Comverge closed its opening day at $22.31, and finished on Friday, May 11, at $22.13, up 23.9 percent from its initial offering price.

 

Bankers priced five deals last week and all more than lived up to expectations. There was a pleasant surprise among the finishers. It was Biodel (NASDAQ: BIOD) a Danbury, Connecticut-based specialty pharmaceutical company focusing on the development of innovative treatments for endocrine disorders such as diabetes and osteoporosis.

 

On Thursday evening, bankers priced 5 million shares of Biodel at $15 each. It closed its opening day at $18, up 20 percent from its initial offering price. This came against the backdrop that Biodel has never generated any revenues and reported an accumulated deficit of $16.5 million.

 

Biodel’s aftermarket performance caught the IPO handicappers flat-footed. Most thought the deal would trade flat.

 

Still, the numbers of people diagnosed with diabetes and osteoporosis -– chronic diseases linked to obesity, aging and heredity — have been increasing steadily in the past few years. With the oldest of the baby boomers now reaching age 60, that trend looks likely to continue. So maybe some investors were betting on Biodel’s future.

 

But the big, big story from last week came from the SEC’s filing window. Seventeen companies filed plans to go public. That raised May’s total to 28 companies looking for a place on some future IPO calendar, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission records.

 

Once again, you have to reach back three years -– to May 2004 — to find a busier two-week period at the SEC’s filing window. During May 2004’s first two weeks, 34 companies filed to go public.

 

As things turned out, 2004 was to become a vintage IPO year. It was the most productive year since 2000, when bankers priced 431 IPOs.

 

On Dec. 31, 2004, here’s what the IPO Scorecard looked like:

 

And how does May 11, 2007, compare with the same time in 2004? Much better, thank you.

 

Let’s rewind the remote to a little compare-and-contrast exercise with the comparable Friday in May three years ago.

 

On Friday, May 14, 2004:

 

The results through Friday, May 11, 2007, are posted on IPOScoop.com’s Home Page – 2007 IPO Scorecard.

 

Conclusion: 2007 is on the fast track to be a more productive year than 2004.

 

 

For IPOScoop.com subscribers: Please check the IPO SCOOP Rated Calendar for the latest Street Consensus of Opening Premium ratings, and stand by for IPO Alert e-mails for any changes in those SCOOP ratings.

 

To learn what’s “hot” and what’s “cold” on the calendar, IPOScoop.com subscribers, please use your passwords for the SCOOP ratings. For others, we invite you to sign up for a 30-day free trial subscription. There is no obligation and you can cancel at any time.

 

 

 

 

Yes, that’s right, the number of new filings added up to a sweet 16.

 

The flow of traffic represents the past, the present and the future. In each segment, there is a message: Tech IPOs are “in.”

 

The best aftermarket performers from last week’s six deals were two technology IPOs. They were Opnext (NASDAQ: OPXT), which makes laser diode modules and other components used in high-speed voice and data networks, and Salary.com (NASDAQ: SLRY), an Internet provider of compensation information and other human resources services.

 

Opnext priced 16.9 million shares at $15 each on Wednesday evening. That was on the high end of its $13- to $15-per-share filing range. On Thursday, the IPO closed its opening day at $17.40 per share and on Friday, it closed at $18 — UP 20 percent from its initial offering price.

 

That was within expectations from the consensus of IPO professionals’ opinions making up the SCOOP (Street Consensus of Opening Premiums) rating on Opnext.

 

Salary.com priced 5.7 million shares at $10.50 each. That was above its filing range of 5 million shares at $8 to $10 each. On Thursday, the IPO closed its opening day at $12.50 per share and on Friday, it closed Friday at $12.48 — UP 19.8 percent from its initial offering price.

 

Some of the IPO handicappers were saying that the Salary.com deal was stronger than 2 Stars (a premium of 50 cents to $1 per share), but it was not a universal call. When the deal was priced above its original filing range, the Street’s investment adage of “increase a deal, double my order” kicked in. In the aftermarket, the IPO did better than expected.

 

Last week’s other offerings were two “blank checks,” a unit offering and a real estate firm.

 

But last week’s best numbers sent a clear message: Tech IPOs are “in.”

 

This past week, seven companies posted proposed offering terms. These deals are getting ready to move onto the IPO calendar. They are looking to raise about $1.7 billion.

 

Leading the charge were Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR proposed) and Photowatt Technologies (NASDAQ: PHWT proposed).

 

Clearwire, an operator of next-generation high-speed wireless broadband networks, filed an amendment to price 20 million shares at $23 to $25 each to raise $480 million. On May 11, 2006, Clearwire filed plans for an IPO to raise $400 million. On July 5, Clearwire withdrew its filing. On Dec. 12, Clearwire filed for an IPO to raise $400 million. Book-runner Merrill Lynch had no pricing date at press time.

 

Regarding Clearwire, here’s something to remember: It’s controlled by Craig McCaw, the cable guy who became a cellphone pioneer.

 

Photowatt Technologies, a solar energy provider, filed an amendment to price 10.9 million shares at $15 to $17 each to raise $175 million. On Sept. 1, 2006, Photowatt filed for an IPO to raise $250 million. Book-runner BMO Capital Markets had no pricing date at press time.

 

The message: Tech IPOs are “in.”

 

Sixteen companies added their names to the IPO pipeline this past week. They were looking to raise about $1.9 billion.

 

Five of the 16 were tech IPOs and four had an initial 3-Star SCOOP rating. (See “Last Week’s IPO Traffic.”) They were:

Cavium Networks (NASDAQ: CAVM proposed), which makes integrated semiconductor processors that enable intelligent networking, communications and security applications, filed for an IPO to raise $86.3 million on Feb. 13.

EnerNOC (NASDAQ: ENOC), a provider of technology and solutions to let utilities, hospitals and other big customers balance the supply and demand of electricity, filed for an IPO to raise $100 million on Feb. 12.

HireRight (NADSAQ: HIRE), a software provider that enables companies to conduct and manage efficient employment screening programs, filed for an IPO to raise $86.3 million on Feb. 12.

Solera Holdings (NYSE: SLH proposed), a provider of software and services to the automobile insurance claims processing industry, filed for an IPO to raise $86.3 million on Feb. 12.

 

What’s the message? Tech IPOs are “in.”

 

Note: The initial SCOOP ratings are just that. They are initial ratings and are subject to change up until the time the IPO is priced.

 

The IPO traffic for the next two weeks slows down, but it is a seasonal factor.

 

Since 2003, the IPO traffic averaged 33 deals from the beginning of January through mid-February. And from mid-February through the beginning of March, the traffic dried up to two or three deals.

 

The Presidents Day holiday on Monday slowed traffic. And bankers have probably been telling their IPO candidates to get their end-of-the-quarter numbers in before launching their deals.  

 

To learn what’s “hot” and what’s “cold” on the calendar, IPOScoop.com subscribers, please use your passwords for the SCOOP ratings. For others, we invite you to sign up for a 30-day free trial subscription. There is no obligation and you can cancel at any time.