IPO bankers priced four deals on Monday night (July 24, 2023): Two Japanese micro-cap IPOs – Earlyworks Co., Ltd. (ELWS) and Warrantee Inc. (WRNT) – , as well as the big SPAC IPO of Keen Vision Acquisition Corp. (KWACU), and the micro-cap IPO of Boca Raton, Florida-based Janover Inc. (JNVR) All four started trading on the NASDAQ today (Tuesday, July 25, 2023). (Editor’s Note: This column, filed early Tuesday, July 25, 2023, was updated late Tuesday with closing stock prices on four IPOs that began trading Tuesday. The column was updated throughout the week with news on pricings, trading debuts and the Fed’s rate increase.)
Let’s take a look at the four IPOs – priced Monday night – to debut Tuesday on NASDAQ:
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Earlyworks Co., Ltd. (ELWS), a Japanese blockchain developer, priced 1.2 million American Depositary Shares (ADS) at $5.00 each – the terms in its prospectus – to raise $6.0 million. US Tiger Securities was the sole book-runner. Earlyworks’ stock opened at $3.50, down $1.50 from its IPO price, on NASDAQ at 10:47 a.m. EDT today. Shares of Earlyworks closed Tuesday at $3.60, down $1.40 from their $5.00 IPO price.
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Warrantee Inc. (WRNT), a Japanese marketing and extended warranty company, trimmed its IPO at pricing to 2.4 million ADS – down from 2.77 million ADS in the prospectus – and priced the IPO at $4.00, as expected, to raise $9.6 million. Prime Number Capital was the sole book-runner. Warrantee is an Osaka City, Japan-based marketing campaign company that offers extended warranty coverage on major appliances or private health insurance coverage to people who provide their personal data in response to its marketing efforts, the prospectus says. Warrantee’s stock opened at $4.80 on NASDAQ at 1:40 p.m. EDT today – for a 20 percent gain at the start of its debut. Warrantee’s stock closed Tuesday (July 25, 20223) at $4.30, up 30 cents or up 7.5 percent, in its first day of trading.
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Keen Vision Acquisition Corp. (KVACU), a Summit, N.J.-based SPAC, priced 13.0 million units at $10.00 each – the terms in its prospectus – to raise $130.0 million. EF Hutton was the sole book-runner. The SPAC will search for target companies in the biotech, consumer and agriculture sectors with individual enterprise values of $1 billion or less. Keen Vision Acquisition’s stock opened at $10.10 on NASDAQ at 10:45 a.m. EDT today. Keen Vision Acquisition’s stock closed at $10.08, up 8 cents, or up 0.8 percent for the day in its NASDAQ debut.
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Janover Inc. (JNVR), a FinTech platform that connects commercial real estate borrowers and lenders, priced 1.41 million shares (1,412,500 shares) – up from 1.25 million shares in the prospectus – at $4.00 – the bottom of its $4.00-to-$6.00 price range. The IPO raised $5.65 million. Janover is based in Boca Raton, Florida. Spartan Capital Securities and R.F. Lafferty & Co. were the joint book-runners. Janover’s stock opened flat at $4.00 on NASDAQ at 10:25 a.m. EDT today. Shares of Janover closed at $3.82, down 18 cents or off 4.5 percent in their first day of NASDAQ trading.
This early flurry of deals kicked off the IPO Calendar for the last week of July. Another SPAC IPO – consumer-focused Haymaker Acquisition Corp. 4 (HYAC.U proposed) – slipped onto the IPO runway late Tuesday (July 25). Haymaker Acquisition Corp. 4 priced its IPO on Tuesday night in line with the terms in its prospectus – 20.0 million units at $10.00 each to raise $200.0 million. Each unit consists of one share of common stock and one-half warrant. Cantor and William Blair were the joint book-runners. The New York-based SPAC’s stock opened at $10.12, up 12 cents from its IPO price, on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Haymaker Acquisition Corp. 4’s stock hit a session high at $10.14 and then dipped to close at $10.12 in its first day of trading on the NYSE.
Eyes on the Fed
Wall Street’s focus is on the Fed this week. The consensus is that the Fed will raise its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday afternoon (July 26, 2023). The Fed is expected to announce the decision at 2 p.m. EDT on Wednesday after its two-day meeting ends.
**UPDATE: As expected, the Fed raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday afternoon, bringing the fed funds rate up to a 22-year high of 5.25 percent to 5.5 percent, according to Bloomberg.
This week’s calendar also features the first direct listing of 2023. Surf Air Mobility Inc. (SRFM proposed) plans to price its New York Stock Exchange direct listing – which is NOT an IPO – on Wednesday night (July 26). The stock is expected to start trading on Thursday (July 27, 2023) on the NYSE. Registered stockholders will offer about 20.4 million shares, according to Surf Air Mobility’s filing dated July 25, 2023. The NYSE assigned a $20.00 reference price to Surf Air Mobility’s stock.
UPDATE: Surf Air Mobility’s stock started trading late Thursday afternoon, opening at $5.00 at 2:58 p.m. EDT on the NYSE, MarketWatch reported. The stock fell to $3.33 before a trading halt for volatility at 3:07 p.m. EDT. The stock resumed trading – only to slip again and close Thursday at $3.15 – down $16.85 or off 84.25 percent from its $20.00 NYSE reference price.
One more micro-cap IPO was on tap for pricing this week: ParaZero Technologies (PRZO proposed), an Israeli drone technology company. ParaZero Technologies priced its micro-cap IPO of 1.95 million shares at $4.00 – the low end of its $4.00-to-$6.00 price range – on Wednesday night (July 26, 2023) to raise $7.8 million. Aegis Capital was the sole book-runner.
UPDATE: ParaZero Technologies’ stock started trading Thursday, opening at $4.09 at 11:35 a.m. EDT on the NASDAQ. Volume was only 94,319 shares on the opening trade, NASDAQ records showed. ParaZero Technologies’ stock gave up its early gains to close Thursday at $3.60, down 40 cents or off 10 percent from its IPO price in its first day of NASDAQ trading.
Australia and Japan in August
Three micro-cap IPOs – all NASDAQ listings – are on next week’s IPO runway:
Fitell Corp. (FTEL proposed), an Australian online retailer of fitness equipment, now plans to price 3.0 million shares at $5.00 to $6.00 to raise $16.5 million, according to an S-1/A filing dated July 26, 2023. The pricing date has shifted from this week to Monday, July 31, to trade Tuesday, Aug. 1. Revere Securities and R.F. Lafferty & Co. are the joint book-runners.
Pixie Dust Technologies (PXDT proposed), a Japanese designer and manufacturer of a scalp stimulation device and other personal care products, plans to price 2.0 million shares at $9.00 to $10.00 to raise $19.0 million on Monday night (July 31, 2023). Boustead Securities is the sole book-runner.
SRM Entertainment Inc. (SRM proposed), a Jupiter, Florida-based toy and souvenir company, plans to price 1.25 million shares at $5.00 to raise $6.25 million sometime during the week of July 31, 2023. EF Hutton is the sole book-runner. The pricing date was pushed back from this week.
Fast forward to the week of Aug. 7, 2023, when three micro-cap IPOs are set for pricing:
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Hanryu Holdings (HRYU proposed), a Seoul-based company that offers a “Korea Wave” community and e-commerce for fans of South Korea’s pop culture, plans to price its tiny IPO – 877,328 shares at $10.00 each – to raise $8.77 million on Monday night, Aug. 7, 2023, to trade Tuesday, Aug. 8.
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Opti-Harvest (OPHV proposed), an early-stage company developing agribusiness equipment to harness solar energy, plans to price 1.9 million shares at $4.15 to raise $8.0 million sometime during the week of Aug. 7, 2023. WestPark Capital is the sole book-runner.
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Gamer Pakistan (GPAK proposed), an esports company, is aiming to price its micro-cap IPO on Wednesday night, Aug. 9, to trade Thursday, Aug. 10. WestPark Capital is the sole book-runner.
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.
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