US IPO Weekly Winners & Losers

Here in New England, it’s cold and gloomy, but the IPO market is getting warmer. If there were any doubts that biotech IPOs are a major theme of 2024, CG Oncology (Nasdaq: CGON) just erased them.

The bladder cancer biotech priced its twice-upsized offering above the range to raise $380 million, and soared +96% in the biggest pop for a sizable IPO since last June (CAVA). It finished the week up +84%. Another oncology biotech, ArriVent Biopharma (Nasdaq: AVBP) raised $175 million and traded up a respectable +11%.

KKR-backed healthcare services provider BrightSpring Health (Nasdaq: BTSG) priced its IPO at $13, below the range of $15 - $18, raising $693 million. With a heavy debt load and a complex story, BrightSpring needed an obvious valuation discount to peers. And it won’t be the year’s last. BrightSpring closed down -15%.

The week’s three larger healthcare IPOs were joined by four Chinese micro-caps.

Sports gear maker Amer Sports (NYSE: AS) is on tap for next week, with the year’s second billion-dollar US IPO. It’s joined by a small ski apparel brand (PMNT) and an unusual direct listing from a biotech (FBLG). We expect to see a few more large launches before things slow down for a few weeks in mid-February.

The IPO Index capped off a mostly positive week with a +0.9% return, slightly outpaced by the S&P 500 (+1.1%). Healthcare platform Privia Health climbed to the top of the leaderboard with a +9.6% gain, while chip maker Arm traded off -9.4%.