The IPO Buzz: Atlas Energy Falls 5.8 Percent in NYSE Debut After Pricing $2 Below the Low End

Atlas Energy Solutions, Inc. (AESI), a Texas frac sand company active in the Permian Basin, slid 5.8 percent to close its first day of trading at $16.95 – down $1.05 from its $18.00 IPO price – in its debut on Thursday (March 9, 2023) on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume: 5.89 million shares. Atlas Energy opened at $17.50 – down 50 cents, or off 2.8 percent – from its $18.00 IPO price on NYSE volume of about 2.12 million shares. That disappointing debut followed Atlas Energy Solutions’ pricing of its IPO at $18.00 – $2.00 below the bottom of its $20.00-to-$23.00 range – on Wednesday night (March 8, 2023). At 18.0 million shares – the number in the prospectus – the IPO raised $324 million at the $18 price. The $18.00 mark was where the Big Boys wanted the deal priced, according to the word on the Street. (Editor’s Note: This column, published March 8, was updated March 9 with coverage of the first day of trading for the week’s IPOs.)

Goldman Sachs, BofA Securities, Piper Sandler, RBC Capital Markets, Barclays and Citigroup were the joint book-runners.  Raymond James, Johnson Rice & Company L.L.C., Stephens Inc., Capital One Securities, Pickering Energy Partners and Drexel Hamilton acted as co-managers.

This is the first $100 million-plus IPO in a month. The IPO attracted attention due to Atlas Energy Solutions’ strong profits and its plans to possibly pay a dividend in the future. The domestic energy sector is also in favor now.

But those cash appeal factors were offset by IPO investors’ concerns about valuation compared with Atlas Energy’s peers.

The IPO’s skeptics also pointed to the cyclical nature of the oil and gas E&P sector. What’s more, early on the morning of Atlas Energy’s NASDAQ debut, The Wall Street Journal published a story (March 9, 2023) reporting that “frackers were hitting fewer big gushers” in the Permian Basin – among the signs that the U.S. shale boom may be close to its peak, as the headline indicates.

Atlas Energy Solutions, based in Austin, Texas, describes itself as “a leading provider of proppant (frac sand) and logistics services to the oil and natural gas industry within the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico, the most active oil and natural gas basin in North America,” according to the prospectus.

“We control 14,575 acres of large open-dune reserves and resources, which represent more than 70% of the total giant open dune acreage in the Winkler Sand Trend available for sand mining,” the prospectus says. 

Atlas Energy Solutions is planning to build the Dune Express, the first long-haul overland conveyor system to deliver proppant. The 42-mile Dune Express will cost about $400 million to build. Atlas Energy Solutions plans to use part of the IPO’s net proceeds to fund the construction of the Dune Express. The company expects to break ground on the project in the first half of 2023. Commercial service is likely to begin by the end of 2024.

XIAO-I Corp. (AIXI) Drops 14.6 Percent in NASDAQ Debut

The American Depositary Shares of XIAO-I Corp. (AIXI), a Chinese AI-driven cognitive intelligence software company, tumbled 14.56 percent to close at $5.81 – down 99 cents from their IPO price of $6.80 – in their NASDAQ debut on Thursday (March 9, 2023). XIAO-I’s shares had opened flat – at their $6.80 IPO price – on their first day of trading. Volume was about 2.95 million shares on XIAO-I’s opening day.

XIAO-I’s IPO was priced Wednesday night (March 8, 2023) at $6.80 – the low end of its $6.80-to-$8.80 range – on 5.7 million American Depositary Shares (ADS) – down from the 6.0 million ADS in the prospectus – to raise $38.76 million. The ADS in the IPO were offered by XIAO-I’s Cayman Islands-incorporated holding company, or parent, and not by the underlying Chinese company.

Prime Number Capital and Guotai Junan International were the joint book-runners.

China’s Top 10 banks and the country’s Top 10 insurance companies are among Shanghai-based XIAO-I’s customers, the prospectus says.

XIAO-I Corp. is profitable, according to the prospectus. The company reported nearly $1 million ($970,000) in net income on $36.51 million in revenue for the 12 months that ended on June 30, 2022.

PishPosh (BABY) Postpones IPO After Pricing

PishPosh (BABY) voluntarily postponed its micro-cap IPO at the direction of its underwriter – late in the afternoon on Wednesday (March 8, 2023) on what was expected to be the IPO’s first day of trading – according to NASDAQ. PishPosh priced its slightly upsized IPO on Tuesday night (March 7, 2023) at $5.00, as expected – on 1.82 million shares – up from 1.77 million shares, the number in the prospectus – to raise $9.1 million. Boustead Securities LLC was the lead book-runner of PishPosh Inc.’s IPO. PishPosh announced the postponement in a news release on March 9. 

The Lakewood, New Jersey-based company said it intends to pursue an IPO at a later date.

PishPosh sells luxury baby strollers, car seats and other baby gear online at https://pishposhbaby.com/ 

– as well as on Amazon.com and other online sites, and in its New Jersey showroom and boutique, the prospectus says.

The PishPosh postponement after pricing caught Wall Street off guard.

A seasoned IPO trader said he could recall only one other instance of this type of voluntary IPO postponement occurring during his years on the Street – and that instance happened about 10 years ago –  according to his recollection.

(For more information about these companies, please check the IPO Calendar and the individual IPO Profiles found on IPOScoop.com’s website.)

Note: Never trade on proposed symbols. They have been known to change and you might buy something on the OTC Bulletin Board. 

To see what time the NASDAQ IPOs are expected to trade, please log in to: NASDAQTrader.com then scroll down to IPO Message. 

Disclosure: Nobody on the IPOScoop.com staff has a position in any stocks mentioned above, nor do they trade or invest in IPOs. The IPOScoop.com staff does not issue advice, recommendations or opinions.

Disclaimer: A SCOOP Rating (Wall Street Consensus of Opening-day Premiums) is a general consensus taken, at press time, from Wall Street and investment professionals concerning how well an IPO might perform when it starts trading. The SCOOP Rating does not reflect the opinions of anyone associated with IPOScoop.com. The SCOOP ratings should not be taken as investment advice. The rating merely reflects the opinion of the professionals at the time of publication and is subject to last-minute changes due to market conditions, changes in a specific offering and other factors, such as changes in the proposed offering terms and the shifting of investor interest in the IPO. The information offered is taken from sources we believe to be reliable, but we cannot guarantee the accuracy.