The coronavirus pandemic made itself felt in the 2020 securities markets and all but closed down the U.S. IPO market. There are no IPOs on the calendar this week, but things may have taken a positive turn over the last two weeks.
On March 29th, The IPO Buzz headline read: Circle This. That was a reference to March 23, 2020, when the three major U.S. stock indexes hit their recent lows. By the close on Thursday, April 9, 2020, both the Dow and the S&P500 had broken out into bull market territory and the NASDAQ was nudging up against the bull. The U.S. stock market was, of course, closed on Friday, April 10, for Good Friday.
Let’s take a look at Thursday’s close:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a recovery high of 23,719.37, up 27.6 percent from 18,591.93, its closing low on March 23.
The S&P 500 closed at a recovery high of 2,789.82, up 24.7 percent from 2,237.40, its closing low on March 23.
The NASDAQ Composite Index closed at a recovery high of 8,153.58, up 18.9 percent from 6,860.67, its closing low on March 23.
To repeat from March 29: What exactly is so important about March 23, 2020, for today’s market? Past history indicates that the IPO market starts coming back to life about four to six weeks after a market’s bottom has been reached. That would start the clock about April 20th.
A Ray of Light
When we get to April 20th, what should we look for?
A small light into the future IPO Calendar could well come from the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. The relevant index, the Dow Jones U.S. Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology Index (DJUSPN), closed on April 9 at 805.66, up 22.5 percent from 657.45, its recent low on March 23.
Let’s take a look at April’s last two IPOs: Keros Therapeutics (KROS) and Zentalis Pharmaceuticals (ZNTL).
Keros Therapeutics priced 6 million shares at $16 each, up from 5 million shares, on April 7. The stock closed Thursday, April 9, at $21.57, up 34.8 percent from its IPO price.
Keros is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel treatments for patients suffering from hematological and musculoskeletal disorders (such as anemia and osteoporosis) with high unmet medical need.
Zentalis priced 9.18 million shares at $18 each, up from 7.65 million shares, on April 2. The stock closed Thursday, April 9, at $24.31, up 35.1 percent from its IPO price.
Zentalis Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing small molecule therapeutics targeting fundamental biological pathways of cancers. Its leading drug product candidate, ZN-c5, is an oral drug in a Phase 1/Phase 2 clinical trial to treat estrogen receptor positive advanced or metastatic breast cancer, the prospectus says. Its product pipeline includes a cancer drug to treat advanced solid tumors, a drug to treat lymphoma and other hematological malignancies, and a drug to treat advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
(For more information about this company, please check the profile on IPOScoop.com’s website.)
April’s Third Week
This brings us to the week of April 20th and the IPO Calendar is blank so far. But some players could quickly hop onto the IPO Calendar when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s filing window opens again for business on Monday, April 13th.
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 opinion.