President of the Nasdaq Stock Exchange Nelson Griggs was not exaggerating in a recent interview on CNBC where he said that he expects the initial public offering market to maintain its bullish momentum in July and August. The market has seen an explosion of activity since its near standstill in April as the coronavirus pandemic left investors worried about the economic future. Nowadays, investors are more confident in the stock market, with many market participants betting on future growth despite the lingering coronavirus outbreak throughout the United States and much of the world.
Last week's IPO market saw the introduction of seven new companies and five special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). Our IPO top pick of the week was Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ: VITL), which gained 59% in its public debut on Friday. Vital Farms, which is the largest U.S. producer of chicken eggs and second largest U.S. egg brand, had both upsized and priced its deal above its initial range at $22 per share to raise $205 million. Being a consumer staple type stock, the company is reliable in a volatile market and dependable due to its recorded profitability and growth.
Here is the rest of the market recap in order of offering amounts:
Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ: LI) priced its deal above range at $11.50 per share to raise over $1 billion in its debut. The Chinese electric car maker is popular, but faces growing competition. The stock ended its first week up 39%.
Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ: VERX) also priced its IPO above its range to raise at $19 to raise over $401 million in its entrance into public trading. The provider of tax software finished up 24%.
Vasta Platform Ltd. (NASDAQ: VSTA) continued the trend, pricing above range at $19 per share to raise above $353 million in its start. The Brazilian education software platform finished its week down 1%.
Allovir, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALVR) priced its upsized deal at $17 per share to raise roughly $276 million in its offering. The sole biotech of the week was once in the COVID-19 vaccine race, but the candidate was halted due to safety concerns. Nevertheless, the stock ended its week up 46%.
Fathom Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: FTHM) priced its upsized deal above its previous range at $10 per share to raise over $34 million in its debut. The cloud-based real estate brokerage ended its week relatively flat.
1847 Goedeker Inc. (NYSE: GOED) was the only stock last week to price its offering at the low end of its range at $9 per share to raise just over $10 million. The e-commerce platform for houses ended its week down 1%.
SPACs that priced last week:
Michael Klein's fourth SPAC Churchill Capital Corp IV upsized its offering twice to raise $1.8 billion to target a competitive business. CC Capital and Neuberger Berman's second SPAC CC Neuberger Principal II raised $720 million for no target, E.Merge Technology Acquisition Corp. raised $522 million to target a technology company, ACE Equity Partners' ACE Convergence Acquisition Corp. raised $200 million to focus on a technology company, and NewHold Enterprises' NewHold Investment Corp. raised $150 million with no specific target.