The IPO Buzz: A Sizzling First Half of 2018

The IPO Calendar is on fire as Wall Street wraps up the first six months of 2018. For the final week of June, bankers expect to price 16 IPOs to raise $2.83 billion. That’s a lot of traffic.

You have to reach back to the week of July 28, 2014, for a busier calendar. That’s when Wall Street priced 17 IPOs to raise $7.2 billion, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange filings. The granddaddy was Synchrony Financial (SYF). The consumer financial services firm sold 125 million shares at $23 each on the evening of July 30, 2014. The IPO closed its opening day on Thursday, July 31, 2014, at $23. The stock went on to sell as high as $40.59 on Jan. 29, 2018, and closed on Friday, June 22, 2018, at $34.13 – up 48.4 percent from its IPO price.

Passing point of interest: If all 16 IPOs get out the door this week, it will increase June 2018’s total to 37 deals. You would have to flip back to June 2000 for heavier June IPO traffic. Eighteen years ago this month, bankers priced 39 IPOs. Surprisingly, that was nowhere near the record June IPO volume. That distinction belongs to June 1986, which produced 95 IPOs.

One marquee name – BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings – is on this week’s calendar. We’ll get to that in a moment.

Let’s take a look at this week’s calendar of 16 deals, organized by scheduled pricing and expected trading dates. (Note: IPOScoop.com subscribers will be notified by IPOScoop.com’s “IPO Alert” service for the latest color on each deal on the day that a pricing is expected.)

Tuesday evening for Wednesday’s trading.

Neon Therapeutics (NTGN proposed), based in   Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing a targeted immunotherapy platform to treat melanoma and other types of cancer.

(For more information on Neon Therapeutics and all the companies below, please check the company profiles on IPOScoop.com’s website.)

Uxin Ltd. (UXIN proposed), based in Beijing, considers itself the largest online used-car marketplace for businesses and consumers in China.

Wednesday evening for Thursday’s trading

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ proposed), based in Westborough, Massachusetts, is a leading warehouse club operator offering groceries, gasoline, merchandise and services through 215 locations in 16 states in the eastern United States.

BrightView Holdings (BV proposed), based in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, is one of the largest commercial landscaping companies in the United States. The company provides commercial landscaping services, ranging from landscape maintenance and enhancements to tree care and landscape development.

EverQuote (EVER proposed), based in   Cambridge, Massachusetts, operates an online auto insurance marketplace.

Forty Seven (FTSV proposed), based in Menlo Park, California, is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company focused on developing novel checkpoint therapies to activate macrophages in the fight against cancer.

GoodBulk Ltd.(GBLK proposed), based in Monaco, is a dry bulk shipping company.

HyreCar (HYRE proposed) is a Los Angeles-based car-sharing platform for people who want to drive for Uber and Lyft, but whose cars do not meet those companies’ standards.

Neuronetics (STIM proposed) is a Malvern, Pennsylvania-based company that designed a commercial product that uses transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to treat adults with major depressive disorder. The FDA has approved the product, the prospectus says.

Translate Bio (TBIO proposed) is a Lexington, Massachusetts-based company that is using its proprietary messenger RNA therapeutics platform to develop drugs to treat cystic fibrosis and other diseases caused by protein or gene dysfunction.

Tricida (TCDA proposed) is a South San Francisco-based company developing a drug to slow the progression of chronic kidney disease by treating metabolic acidosis.

Thursday evening for Friday’s trading

Domo (DOMO proposed), based in American Fork, Utah, is an operating system that powers a business, enabling all employees to access real-time data and insights and take action from their smartphone.

 “Week of June 25th”

Four deals, including one carryover from last week, are listed on the IPO Calendar as expected sometime during “the week of June 25th.” These IPOs are:

DERMADoctor (DDOC proposed) – is a carryover from last week.  Based in Kansas City, Missouri, DERMADoctor is an innovative skincare company that develops, markets, distributes and sells products to treat problems ranging from acne to wrinkles. The products are sold online and in U.S. stores, including ULTA, Sephora and Nordstrom, and overseas through distributors.

HL Acquisitions (HCCHU proposed) is a newly organized “blank check” company, based in New York City. It was formed to acquire or enter into a business combination with one or more entities known as a “target business.” The company intends to focus its search for a “target business” in the hydrocarbon logistics and processing industry.

Lovesac (LOVE proposed) is a Stamford, Connecticut-based company that makes and sells high-end sectional couches called Sactionals and beanbag chairs called Sacs.

New Frontier (NFC.U proposed) is a newly organized “blank check” company, based in Hong Kong. New Frontier intends to focus its search for a “target business” to acquire – or do a business combination with – on companies with operations or prospects in China’s healthcare, technology or education sectors.

July’s Opening Week

This brings us to the week of July 2nd and the IPO Calendar is cleaner than the beach before sunrise. The July 4th Holiday falls on Wednesday, breaking the week into a two-part market – two days before and two days after.

But anything can happen when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s filing window opens for business again on Monday 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 opinion.