IPO Weekly Recap: Volatility spears the IPO market

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This past week six IPOs debuted out of the ten that were scheduled and those that came to market had difficult debuts given the week’s volatility.

Given the week saw two different sessions with 1000+ point declines on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, it was somewhat surprising to see even six companies come to market. Investors were not willing to take on risks as many had depressed debuts. The six IPOs that came to market opened, on average, 1.5% below the offering price. 

The deal of the week once again came from the energy sector. Cactus Inc (WHD) upsized and priced its offering at the high-end of the range, $19.00, and opened with an 11.1% gain with a first trade of $21.10. WHD hit a first day high of $21.84 while comfortably trading above its offering price in its first two sessions.

Aside from WHD, the other five IPOs broke their offering prices either at the first trade or at some point in their opening session.

Cardlytics Inc. (CDLX) priced at the low-end of the range, $13.00, and opened at $12.10 for a loss of 6.9% at first trade. CDLX did rally substantially when the market pushed higher in Friday afternoon’s session and did hit a high of $13.90 for a gain of 7.0% at top-tick.

Huami Corporation (HMI) priced 10.0mm shares at the midpoint of the range, $11.00, and opened with a $1.00 premium. While HMI did break its offering price, it closed its opening session at $11.25 for a 2.2% gain.

Evolus Inc (EOLS) priced 5.0mm shares at the low-end of the range, $12.00, and opened 6.3% lower with a first trade of $11.25. Evolus hit a low of $9.60 before rallying and closing the session near its highs at $11.50. EOLS did not trade above its offering price in its opening week.

Quintana Energy Services (QES) re-worked its IPO to include insider buying and priced $2.00 below the $12.00-$15.00 range. It was not enough to appease the market as QES opened at $9.00 for a 10.0% loss at first trade.

A similar result happened with Victory Capital (VCTR) as the company priced $4.00 below range, $13.00, and opened at $12.25.

It should be noted that three companies,  Bioceres SA (BIOX), TFI Tab Food Investment (TFIG) and IPSCO Tubulars (IPSC), elected to postpone their initial public offerings due to market conditions. Additionally, Motus GI Holdings (MOTS) has stated that they will attempt to price their IPO next week and should be considered in ‘day-to-day’ status.