Last week the IPO market only had one small company go public. As the summer comes to an end, the IPO investors give the markets a pass as this is right in the middle of the annual summer slowdown. Stellar Acquisition III (NASDAQ: STLRU), was the one name to go public last week and raised $65 million. The company is a Greece-based group looking to acquire an energy logistics business, such as a tanker operator. This is whats referred to as a "blank check" IPO. Given the slow season for IPO's we take this time to offer some stats as to how the IPO markets have performed so far this year.
• For 2016 so far, the average IPO is up 29.5%.
• If we back out the health care sector, every IPO is currently trading above its issue price.
• Tech IPOs are the best performers so far for 2016, averaging a gain of +96%. IPO analysts continue to affirm that those strong returns should drive a long overdue pickup in tech IPO activity in the fall.
• 32 companies have either filed for an IPO, or have updated their listing in the past 60 days.
Of those 32 companies three companies look like they will be first up after the holiday. The most exciting one would be Everbridge (NASDAQ: EVBG), a fast-growing provider of cloud-based enterprise software looking to raise $90 million. The other two others that updated were FB Financial (NYSE: FBK), Tennessee's third-largest bank, and Thar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: THAR), a biotech focused on non-opioid treatments for pain.