The IPO Buzz: Strength in Numbers

This week’s IPO calendar shows five deals on its launching pad. That number is not exactly robust in the Land of IPOs, but a closer look turns up a surprising trend. In fact, 2017’s IPO figures far exceed last year’s by almost 50 percent – and there’s a reason. It’s the strength of the underlying stock market.

Consider the following:

As of the close on Friday, June 9, 2017, the calendar had produced 60 IPOs so far this year, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s records. (This excludes the usual suspects. Please see the note below.) Of that number, 43 IPOs closed above their initial public offering prices, 17 below and the average gain of all 60 was 16.3 percent.

Now let’s flip back the pages to a year ago. As of the close on Friday, June 10, 2016, the calendar had produced 31 IPOs for the year to date. Of that number, 20 IPOs closed above their initial public offering prices and 10 ended below, while one was unchanged, and the average gain of all 31 was 24.23 percent.

(Note: The above numbers exclude unit offerings, bank conversions, “best efforts” offerings, blank checks, closed-end funds, companies trading on the OTC markets moving over to the NASDAQ and foreign-traded securities making their debuts in the U.S. capital markets. The latter are public offerings. Investors can buy the underlying shares on foreign exchanges before their U.S. pricing dates.)

All Hail the NASDAQ

The driving force behind the strong numbers in 2017 was the NASDAQ Composite Index – also known as the barometer of the IPO market.

On June 9, 2017, the NASDAQ closed at 6,207.92, UP 15.3 percent from 5,383.12 on Dec. 31, 2016.

On June 10, 2016, the NASDAQ closed at 4,894.55 DOWN 2.26 percent from 5,007.41 on Dec. 31, 2015.

Conclusion: A good stock market usually turns out more IPOs and, rolling into 2017’s first half, this looks to be the case.

An Accent on Health

Two health-care IPOs – Athenex (ATNX – proposed) and Avenue Therapeutics (ATXI – proposed) – are among the five names on this week’s calendar. Rounding out the calendar are Boston Omaha (BOWN), a company involved in outdoor advertising, surety insurance and real estate; SG Blocks (SGBX – proposed), a modifier of cargo shipping containers for construction use, and TCG BDC (CGBD – proposed), a specialty finance company.

Athenex, based in Buffalo, New York, is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies to treat cancer. The company has generated its clinical product candidates through its Orascovery and Src Kinase Inhibition research platforms, which are based on its understanding of human absorption biology and novel approaches to inhibiting kinase activity, respectively.

Bankers plan to price 6 million shares at $11 to $13 each on Tuesday evening, June 13, 2017, to trade on Wednesday, June 14, on the NASDAQ Global Market.

Avenue Therapeutics, based in New York City, is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of an intravenous formulation of tramadol HCl, a synthetic opioid, to manage moderate to moderately severe postoperative pain.

Bankers plan to price 5 million shares at $9 to $11 each on Wednesday evening, June 14, 2017, to trade on Thursday, June 15, on the NASDAQ Global Market.

Boston Omaha, based in Boston, is involved in three separate lines of business through its subsidiaries: an outdoor billboard operator; a surety insurance company, and a company that invests in real estate management and related activities. Its common stock has an inactive OTCQX listing and investors may have the opportunity to buy share before this deal is priced.

Bankers plan to price 5.5 million shares of Class A common stock at $12 to $14 each on Wednesday evening, June 14, 2017, to trade on Thursday, June 15 on the NASDAQ Global Market.

SG Blocks, based in Brooklyn, New York, modifies cargo shipping containers for use in construction.

Bankers plan to price 2.2 million shares at $5 to $6 each on Tuesday evening, June 13, 2017, to trade on Wednesday, June 14, on the NASDAQ Capital Market.

TCG BDC, based in New York City, is a specialty finance company affiliated with The Carlyle Group LP. From May 2013 through March 31, 2017, this middle-market lender has invested more than $2.4 billion in aggregate principal amount of debt and equity investments prior to any subsequent exits or repayments.

Bankers plan to price 9 million shares at $18.50 to $19.50 each on Tuesday evening, June 13, 2017, to trade on Wednesday, June 14 on the NASDAQ Global Select Market.

(For more information, please check the IPO profiles found on IPOScoop.com’s website.)

A Summer Solo

This brings us to the week of June 19, 2017, when summer will officially begin on June 21st, and the calendar has just one small-cap offering. However, a lot could happen when the SEC’s filing window opens again 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 opinion.