US IPO Weekly Winners & Losers
This week saw mixed results for US IPOs. Cybersecurity firm Netskope raised $908 million and surged 30%, while StubHub fell 21% due to slowed growth. WaterBridge and Pattern, both PE-backed, gained 15% and 12%, respectively. The Renaissance IPO Index rose 2.2%, outperforming the S&P 500's 1.2%. Notable winners included Pony AI, up 38.2%, while Instacart dropped 10.5% amid insider selling. No major launches are scheduled for next week, but more companies may enter the pipeline as the market stabilizes.
Two tech unicorns. One lesson: Investors need to see a company’s growth to believe it.
Cybersecurity firm Netskope (Nasdaq: NTSK) priced at the high end of the revised range to raise $908 million and traded up +30% for the week. Meanwhile, ticket resale platform StubHub (NYSE: STUB) priced at the midpoint and plummeted -21% by Friday’s close.
Both names wanted to get credit for ~30% growth next year. But unlike Netskope, StubHub’s growth slowed to a crawl in the past two quarters, while margins faltered. Usually companies go public after an outstanding quarter – StubHub did not, and now investors want to see results before paying up.
We’ve seen some explosive debuts in recent months, fueled in part by the drought of quality VC-backed deals. Clearly some of that hype has faded. Though, in the long run, this sort of pricing discernment is good for investors.
Two PE-backed issuers also listed this week. Oilfield services provider WaterBridge (NYSE: WBI) priced at the high end and delivered a decent +15% gain for the week. E-commerce accelerator Pattern (Nasdaq: PTRN) priced at the midpoint and while it opened below offer, ended up +12%.
No major launches this week, and nothing currently scheduled for the week ahead, though a few more deals could pull the trigger before quarter end. We do expect more companies to join the pipeline as the “wait-and-see” crowd digests the past weeks’ debuts.
Despite a dip on Friday, the Renaissance IPO Index continued its winning streak and ended the week up +2.2% (vs. +1.2% for the S&P 500). Chinese autonomous driving play Pony AI led a tech-heavy list of winners, surging +38.2% on plans to roll out its robotaxi service in Qatar. Delivery platform Instacart traded off -10.5% after some insider selling.
The Renaissance IPO Index returned 2.2% last week vs. 1.2% for the S&P 500.
