The IPO Buzz: February Turns Up the Heat

February 2020 gets off to a red-hot start with 10 IPOs on the calendar for the first week of the month. Bankers expect to raise $2.4 billion. Eight of the 10 deals are new faces at the IPO window and two are carryovers from last week.

From early indications, February 2020 could produce “better-then-average” IPO volume in terms of the number of deals.

For the 19-year period from 2001 through 2019, an average February produced 13.5 IPOs, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission records show. The busiest February was 2005 with 30 deals and the slowest was 2009 with one deal.

February 2019 clocked in with 17 deals – and this year, there are 10 IPOs on tap for the first week of February alone.

What’s more: The U.S. stock market’s performance on Friday, Jan. 31, 2020, was full of surprises.

When IPOs Defy Gravity

How many times do you see the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunge 603 points in a single day while brand new IPOs behave as if they were flying in sunny skies?

To recap, three IPOs were priced Thursday night, Jan. 30, 2020, and they started trading on Friday, Jan. 31st:

  • 1Life Healthcare (ONEM) priced its IPO of 17.5 million shares at $14 each, on the low end of its $14-to-$16 range, on Thursday night, Jan. 30th. The stock closed on Friday, its first day of trading, at $22.07, up 57.6 percent from its IPO price.
  • Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT) priced its IPO of 9.375 million shares at $17 each, up from 7.8 million shares, on Thursday night, Jan. 30th. The stock closed on Friday, its first day of trading, at $21.80, up 28.2 percent from its IPO price.
  • Reynolds Consumer Products (REYN) priced its IPO of 47.17 million shares at $26 each, near the lower end of its $25-to-$28 range, on Thursday night, Jan. 30th. The stock closed on Friday, its first day of trading, at $28.55, up 9.8 percent from its IPO price.

10 Deals on Tap

This brings us to the first week of February, when 10 IPOs are on tap. Let’s take a look at these deals, organized by pricing and trading dates.

Day-to-Day

Avadim Health (AHI – proposed), based in Asheville, North Carolina, is a high-growth healthcare and wellness company that sells topical products to improve immune health, neuromuscular health and skin barrier health.

The company plans to offer 5 million shares at $14 to $16 each.

This IPO is a carryover from last week.

Week of Feb. 3

F5 Finishes (FLRZ proposed), based in Livermore, California, provides commercial flooring solutions, including sales, installation and maintenance services for existing and new commercial buildings.

The company plans to offer 5 million shares at $7 to $8 each.

Monday evening pricing for Tuesday trading:

InterPrivate Acquisition (IPV.U proposed), based in New York City, is a newly formed blank check company or special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that says its efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to any one industry or geographic region.

The company plans to offer 17.5 million units shares at $10 each.

This IPO is a carryover from last week.

Wednesday evening pricing for Thursday trading:

Beam Therapeutics (BEAM proposed), based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a biotechnology company focused on creating a new class of precision genetic medicines based on its proprietary base editing technology, with a vision of providing lifelong cures to patients suffering from serious diseases.

The company plans to offer 6.25 million shares at $15 to $17 each.

Casper Sleep (CSPR proposed), based in New York City, is an e-commerce provider of mattresses, sheets, pillows, duvets, bedroom furniture, sleep accessories, sleep technology and sleep services. Casper Sleep serves customers worldwide.

The company plans to offer 8.35 million shares at $17 to $19 each.

PPD (PPD proposed), based in Wilmington, North Carolina, provides drug development services to the biopharmaceutical industry. PPD has been in the services business for more than 30 years, providing a comprehensive suite of clinical development and laboratory services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and government organizations, as well as to other industry participants.

The company plans to offer 60 million shares at $24 to $27 each.

Schrodinger (SDGR – proposed), based in New York City, says it provides a physics-based software platform for the discovery of high-quality, novel molecules for drug development and materials applications more rapidly, at lower cost, and with a higher likelihood of success compared to traditional methods.

This is an IPO of 10 million shares at $14 to $16 each.

Thursday evening pricing for Friday trading:

NexPoint Real Estate Finance (NREF proposed), based in Dallas, is a newly formed commercial real estate finance company or REIT (real estate investment trust). NexPoint plans to originate, structure and invest in first mortgage loans, mezzanine loans, preferred equity and alternative structured financings in commercial real estate properties, as well as in multifamily commercial mortgage backed securities, or CMBS, securitizations, or collectively its target assets.

This is an IPO of 5 million shares at $19 to $21 each.

OneWater Marine (ONEW proposed), based in Buford, Georgia, is a recreational boat retailer in the U.S. with 63 stores making up 21 dealer groups in 11 states. Its dealer groups are located throughout the Southeast, Gulf Coast, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, including Texas, Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Ohio and New York, which collectively make up eight of the top 20 states for marine retail expenditures.

This is an IPO of 4.62 million shares at $12 to $14 each.

Professional Holding (PFHD *), based in Coral Gables, Florida, is a financial holding company incorporated in 2014. The company operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Professional Bank, a Florida state-chartered bank that began operations in 2008. The bank focuses on providing creative relationship-driven commercial banking products and services to its clients – small and medium businesses, their owners and operators, and other professionals, entrepreneurs and high net worth individuals.

*This is a public offering – not an IPO. Quotations for the company’s Class A common stock have been reported on the OTC Pink, or the Pink Open Market, under the symbol “PFHD.”

This is an offering of 3.1 million shares at $19 to $21 each.

(For more information on these companies, please check the IPO Profiles on IPOScoop.com.)

Week of Feb. 10

The IPO Calendar is blank for the second week of February, but that could change quickly after the SEC’s filing window opens again for business 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 opinions.