US IPO Weekly Winners & Losers

Four listings, one question: Is the IPO window finally broadening?

The calendar featured some variety this week. Deals spanned biotech, cloud infrastructure, and for the first time in a while, consumer.

Sandwich chain Jersey Mike's (NYSE: JMKE) priced at the midpoint to raise $1 billion in the largest restaurant IPO since 2011. Initial trading was weak, and after breaking issue on day one, it recouped its losses to close flat. Meanwhile, DTC womenswear brand Reformation (NYSE: REF) priced at the low end and posted an +8% gain.

Size aside, these were big deals. They provided an important data point for consumer IPOs in the pipeline: Issuers can get deals done, though investors may demand clearer discounts moving forward.

The week’s two other notable listings featured familiar themes. Sleep apnea-focused drug developer Apnimed (Nasdaq: APMD) capitalized on recent interest in biotech. It priced an upsized offering at the high end and soared +56%. Ionic Digital (Nasdaq: IOND) overcame AI headwinds to complete the largest direct listing since 2021, commanding a $3.1 billion market cap as of Friday’s close.

More biotechs (BRVE, ATTO, VOGX) and a bank (RCBC) are on tap for the coming week.

What else to watch: SpaceX is scheduled to report earnings for the first time on Tuesday, followed by the first of many lock-up releases. About 911 million shares will be released, more than doubling the pool of tradable shares. We’ll see how the market absorbs the newly eligible shares amid so-far soft demand for the high-profile mega IPO.

New stocks in the IPO Index continued to grapple with AI weakness, plus the Fed’s decision to hold rates steady with a possible rate hike on the horizon. The IPO Index slid -0.7% this week, compared to the S&P 500’s +1.0%. Defense issuer Arxis soared +28.1% on a beat-and-raise. BrightSpring Health Services sank -18.1% as potential valuation concerns more than offset strong earnings.