As is typical in the last week of the year there are no new IPO's coming to the market. Many of the top IPO analysts believe that the first month in 2018 will see a sharp pickup in the number of filings by companies looking to take advantage of a favorable market.
Last week the only successful launches were the two Chinese companies. LexinFintech Holdings (NYSE: LX) priced at the low end but investors gobbled up shares on the first day, sending the online lender higher by almost 20%. iClick Interactive (NASDAQ: ICLK), which is an ad, and marketing company also priced lower but was able to post a strong first day of over 12%.
Since there are no new offerings this week, lets take a look at some IPO market stats. For 2017 there were 160 IPO's which, all totaled were able to raise $35.5 billion from the markets. This is an increase of just about 50% from 2016 so you can see why analysts are so optimistic going forward. Tech was the weak space of the group thanks to names like Snap, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNAP) and Blue Apron Holdings (NASDAQ: APRN) which grabbed a lot of media attention but could not grab the dollars of investors. It may only get worse for the meal delivery kit service as this week is the end of the lockup period.
While this week may be a slow one, 2018 is shaping up to be another strong year for IPO's so enjoy the week off and be ready for an active and hopefully prosperous year.