US IPO Weekly Winners & Losers

The IPO market had its best week since January, as pessimism that interest rates would stay “higher for longer” became optimism that the worst is behind us.

The Renaissance IPO Index surged +8.8%, with the S&P 500 up +5.9%. High-growth tech and fintech led the charge, with buy-now-pay-later lender Affirm rocketing +32.5% on an expanded partnership with Amazon. Meanwhile, data stream software firm Confluent plunged -34.8% after lowering guidance, citing macro pressure.

Two weeks ago the biggest IPOs in the US and European pipeline, Waystar (Nasdaq) and CVC Capital (Amsterdam), appeared confident they’d list in Q4. Early this week, news sites reported that both deals were delayed due to market conditions. After the latest rally, they may move forward after all. Suffice to say, global IPO markets are still touch-and-go.

One notable US IPO began trading this week, gene therapy biotech Lexeo Therapeutics (Nasdaq: LXEO). It priced at $11, two bucks below the range and a steep discount to its last private round, before trading off -9%. Biotechs tend to launch offerings even in bad markets, since they 1) need the money for trials, 2) have unique clinical results, and 3) are less correlated to market swings.

This coming week, Bermuda-based Hamilton Insurance Group (NYSE: HG) looks to raise $255 million in the year’s third insurance IPO after Skyward and Fidelis. Recent big tech IPOs also announce earnings: Klaviyo on Tuesday, and Arm and Instacart on Wednesday.