Last week’s calendar gave us pops, flops and one IPO that traded on both sides of heaven’s gate. The six IPOs raised $1.86 billion. This week, it’s a much different story.
Wall Street is looking to raise almost $2 billion from this week’s IPO calendar. That’s well above the average weekly volume of $725 million over the last 10 years.
IPOs from three sectors – cloud computing, homebuilders and money-transfer companies – have been hot. But on Wall Street, it’s crucial to remember one thing: You are only as good as your last trade. This week’s new-issues calendar has a representative from each of these three sectors. Let’s take a look.
The IPO first-quarter 2013 report card is in and here’s the story: B+. That’s not bad, but that’s down from the year-ago first quarter, when the IPO market got an A.
Aunt Jemima, Birds Eye, Duncan Hines and other household names plan to go public this week. Not individually, but under the name of Pinnacle Foods (PF– proposed) – and Pinnacle’s industrial sector has been cooking.
The calendar flips to spring this week, with eight IPOs expecting to raise $1.29 billion. The last time Wall Street saw an IPO calendar of this size was for the week of Feb. 4, 2013. That calendar expected to price eight IPOs and raise $1.38 billion. It didn’t turn out that way.
Technology is finally elbowing its way into 2013’s IPO calendar. One small-cap offering was priced last week, and this week’s only deal is another technology IPO.
In like a lion, out like a lamb is the old saw about March. In the case of the IPO market, the reverse is true: It’s a mild start to the month, with just two deals on this week’s calendar – one a small-cap offering and the other a retread from the past. Nevertheless, for the first time since mid-February, IPOs are back in town. Or to paraphrase Gertrude Stein: A calendar is a calendar is a calendar.
A stillness has settled into the Land of IPOs. No deals were priced last week. And nothing is scheduled for this week. But a mid-February blight in the IPO calendar is becoming normal.
Behind every success story, there’s a pillar of strength. When it comes to IPOs, that strong suit boils down to one word – or acronym: JOBS. The JOBS Act of April 2012 has been good to the IPO market. Since April 25, 2012, the new-issues calendar has priced 100 IPOs. Their aftermarket performance has far outperformed the U.S. stock market’s major indexes.