The IPO Buzz: Innovative Eyewear Prices IPO at Low End & Starts the Week

Innovative Eyewear (LUCY/ LUCYW) priced its micro-cap unit IPO at $7.50 – the low end of its $7.50-to-$9.50 range – on Sunday (Aug. 14, 2022) and sold more units – 980,000 units, up from 882,353 units in the prospectus – to raise $7.35 million. This smart eyewear company’s IPO pricing kicks off the third week of August – typically one of the sleepiest weeks of the year in the IPO market. For the week of Aug. 15, 2022, the IPO Calendar shows just four deals – three small-cap IPOs, including Innovative Eyewear, and one tiny uplisting/public offering. Bankers expect to raise about $51.6 million, if all four deals get done. (Editor’s Note: This column, published Monday morning, was last updated after Wednesday’s close with news on Graphex trading.)

Shares of Innovative Eyewear (LUCY) opened Monday at $6.50, down $1.00, or 13.3 percent, from their IPO price in their NASDAQ debut. The stock fell further to trade at around $5.31, down 29.01 percent from its $7.50 IPO price, in midday trading. At the closing bell, Innovative Eyewear’s stock was at $5.89, down 21.26 percent from its IPO price. That performance pegs Innovative Eyewear as a broken deal. The warrants also started trading Monday under the symbol “LUCYW” on the NASDAQ.

In Innovative Eyewear’s initial public offering of units, each unit consists of one share of common stock and two warrants. (See the prospectus for more details.)

By selling more units and pricing the IPO at the low end of its range, Innovative Eyewear raised about $150 million less than its $7.5 million in estimated proceeds based on mid-point pricing at $8.50.

Maxim Group LLC was the sole book-runner of Innovative Eyewear’s IPO.

Based in Miami, Innovative Eyewear develops and sells Bluetooth-connected eyeglasses and sunglasses. The frames enable the wearer to stay connected digitally with voice commands. The company sells the glasses on its own website, Lucyd® Bluetooth Smart Glasses – Smart, Audio Eyewearand online via Dick’s Sporting Goods and Best Buy. (Customer reviews are available online on Best Buy: Customer Reviews: Lucyd Lyte Bluetooth Audio Sunglasses Lytening LCD005-50 – Best Buy

Innovative Eyewear, founded in 2019, is not profitable. For the 12 months ended March 31, 2022, the company had a net loss of $4.23 million on revenue of $809,567, according to financial statements in its S-1/A filing dated Aug. 11, 2022.

By midday on Monday, the three major U.S. stock indexes had reversed the early morning’s declines to extend last week’s rally. Around 1:30 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 158.9 points, or 0.5 percent, at 33,319.96, while the NASDAQ Composite Index was up 65.86 points, or 0.5 percent at 13,113.05, and the S&P 500 was up 12.99 points, or 0.3 percent, at 4,293.14. U.S. stocks had fallen at Monday’s opening  after China’s central bank cut two key interest rates following Chinese data showing that the country’s economy slowed in July. 

Graphex Upsizes NYSE-American Uplisting Deal

Graphex Group (GRFX proposed), a Chinese company that makes graphene products, increased the size of its NYSE-American uplisting/public offering at pricing on Tuesday night (Aug. 16, 2022):  4.7 million American Depositary Shares (ADS) (4,695,653 ADS), up from 3.2 million shares in the prospectus. The offering was priced at $2.50 – the mid-point of its $2.00-to-$3.00 price range – to raise $11.74 million.

Shares of Graphex Group opened flat – at $2.50, the public offering price – on Wednesday (Aug. 17, 2022) on the NYSE-American exchange. Shortly after the open, Graphex shares slipped below the offering price – trading at $2.35, hitting an intraday low at $2.27 and then retracing some of their losses to trade at around $2.41 at midday (Wednesday) on volume of about 3 million shares. Graphex shares closed at $2.20, down 30 cents, or 12 percent, on volume of about 3.73 million shares. 

EF Hutton is the sole book-runner of the Graphex Group public offering. This is NOT an IPO.

Graphex Group Limited, based in Hong Kong, manufactures natural spherical graphite and specialized graphite products that are used in lithium-ion (“Li-ion”) batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) and clean energy storage solutions. The company’s graphene products operations are in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

In 2022, Graphex entered into a joint venture agreement to build a graphite refining facility near Detroit. The company hopes to have the plant operational by the second quarter of 2023, the prospectus says.

The company is not profitable, according to the prospectus.

Two IPOs Pricing Thursday Night 

Two small-cap IPOs – a Hong Kong-based B2B ecommerce platform for home appliances and other big items, and an autism-focused early clinical biotech – are set for pricing Thursday night (Aug. 18, 2022) to trade Friday. Let’s take a look.

GigaCloud Technology (GCT proposed), a global B2B ecommerce platform for home appliances and other large items, is expected to price its IPO on Thursday night: 2.45 million shares at $10.25 to $12.25 to raise $27.56 million. The stock is expected to start trading Friday on the NASDAQ.

Aegis Capital is the sole book-runner.

GigaCloud Technology, based in Hong Kong, says it is a pioneer of global end-to-end B2B ecommerce solutions for large parcel merchandise, including home appliances and fitness equipment. Its B2B ecommerce platform, known as the GigaCloud Marketplace, “seamlessly connects manufacturers, primarily in Asia, with resellers, primarily in the U.S., Asia and Europe, to execute cross-border transactions with confidence, speed and efficiency.”

 According to the prospectus, GigaCloud Technology is profitable.

PaxMedica (PXMD proposed), an early clinical-stage biotech focused on developing an autism treatment, plans to price its IPO on Thursday night: 1.55 million shares at $4.50 to $6.50 to raise $8.5 million. The stock is expected to start trading Friday on the NASDAQ.

Craft Capital Management and R.F. Lafferty & Co. are the joint book-runners.

PaxMedica is developing and testing its lead program, PAX-101, an intravenous formulation of suramin, to treat autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In February 2021, the company announced positive topline data from its Phase 2 dose-ranging clinical trial evaluating PAX-101 to treat the core symptoms of ASD, the prospectus says. The company, founded in 2018, is based in Tarrytown, N.Y.

According to the prospectus, PaxMedica has generated no revenue so far. The company is not profitable.

Next Week 

For the week of Aug. 22, 2022, just one name is on the IPO Calendar so far: Starbox Group (STBX proposed). The Malaysian cash rebate, digital ad and payment company is planning to price its IPO of 5.0 million shares at $4.00 to $5.00 to raise $22.5 million. Network 1 Financial Securities is the sole book-runner.

As the IPO filings continue to trickle into the SEC this week, more names may land on the IPO Calendar for the last full week of August.

Stay tuned.

(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.