US IPO Weekly Winners & Losers

March was “supposed” to be the month the IPO window flew open, but the market had other plans.

The IPO Index sank -4.4% this week, heading into correction territory. The Nasdaq (-3.5%) and S&P 500 (-1.0%) also traded down. For the first time this year, the VIX Volatility Index jumped above 20.

For context, the 2024 IPO market had three corrections in the -10% range. The last one in August was followed by a 3-month rally of about +30% (not investment advice).

Just one notable tech filer this past week, MNTN (NYSE: MNTN), an adtech company partnered with Ryan Reynolds. That means the March IPO calendar will have moderate activity at best.

In other words, the scores of aging tech startups waiting for the perfect IPO market… will have to keep waiting. Of course, Rule-of-40 tech companies would have no problem drumming up interest. It’s just a matter of accepting a public market valuation.

IPOs willing to take the plunge will have investors’ undivided attention. Medical device maker Kestra Medical Technologies (Nasdaq: KMTS) is raising $150 million in the week ahead, marketing a wearable defibrillator. News hit that AI infrastructure play CoreWeave is close to filing for an IPO that could raise $4 billion.

Five very small IPOs priced this week (LUD, LZMH, WETO, BMGL, STAK). Four SPACs completed offerings, the biggest week for blank check IPOs in almost three years.

The IPO Index was led this week by real estate and industrials, with cold-storage REIT Lineage up +11.8% thanks to decent 2025 guidance. Grocery delivery platform Instacart dropped -21.5% on a Q4 sales miss.