One has to reach back three years to find similar numbers. The weeks of Dec. 10, 2007, and Dec. 17, 2007, had a total of 19 IPOs looking to raise $2.5 billion. By the time the stock market closed on Friday, Dec. 21, 2007, 14 deals had made their debuts and raised $2 billion, according to the U.S. Securities and Commission Exchange’s filings.
Now let’s jump back to today and the current stock market.
Running of the Bulls
Since the year’s lows that were set on July 2, 2010, through the closing bell on Friday, Dec. 3, 2010, the bulls have been on the run. Over the last five months, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has registered a 17.5 percent gain, the S&P 500 Index has racked up a gain of 19.8 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index has scored a gain of 23.9 percent.
The Nasdaq Composite Index is already in bull market territory, which Wall Street defines as a 20 percent recovery from a recent low. Should the year-end rally continue, can the other indexes be far behind?
Let’s take a look at the IPO market’s near-term outlook.
Historically, the IPO market grinds to a halt by mid-December. This year is no exception, with bankers pricing a full calendar of deals through the second week of December.
This week, nine IPOs are on tap. They are looking to raise about $1.3 billion. The following week, another nine offerings are scheduled; they aim to raise almost $2 billion.
‘China’s Amazon and Netflix’
The current week’s offerings are dominated by Chinese companies. Six of the nine come from across the wide Pacific.
Two of the Chinese IPOs are reportedly in demand:
E-Commerce’s brand dangdang.com is the No. 1-ranked brand among China’s B2C e-commerce companies for awareness, a trusted online shopping experience and price competitiveness, according to survey taken in May 2010 by iResearch Consulting Group, a third-party market research firm.
Bankers plan to offer 17 million American Depositary Shares (ADS) at $11 to $13 each. The company will offer 13.2 million ADS and selling shareholders will offer 3.8 million ADS. The offering is scheduled to be priced on Tuesday evening; it’s expected to trade Wednesday morning, Dec. 8.
Youku.com is China’s leading Internet television company, according to iResearch Consulting Group. The company had about 203 million monthly unique visitors from homes and offices in September 2010, about 61 million monthly unique visitors from Internet cafes in August 2010, and market share of about 40 percent in terms of total user time spent viewing online videos in China.
Bankers plan to offer 15.4 million American Depositary Shares (ADS) at $9 to $11 each. The offering is scheduled to be priced Tuesday evening and to trade Wednesday morning.
Yes, Virginia, there might be a million stories in the Naked City. And there are nine stories in this week’s IPO calendar. Only two are told above.
Disclosure: Neither the author nor anyone else on the IPOScoop.com staff has a position in any stocks mentioned, nor do they trade or invest in IPOs. The author and IPOScoop.com staff do not issue advice, recommendations or opinions.