December 10, 2024

These Were The Winners And Losers In A Boring Year For Startup IPOs

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Objectively speaking, 2024 will be a boring year for technology startup IPOs.

Only a handful of U.S. tech unicorns have entered the market. Biotech products, while more plentiful, are also well below previous highs.

Aftermarket performance doesn’t follow the dramatic storyline, either. Some are much higher than the initial price, some are much lower, and many look relatively flat.

Despite this, we can still see some outstanding works in it. Below, we pick out the winners and losers among venture-backed tech and biotech companies, focusing on mid- and large-cap IPOs.

Top technology performers

Among the bigger tech products, this year’s far and away winner is Reddit. The popular discussion platform’s share price has risen 332% since the company’s inception* IPO in Marchwith a market value of approximately US$26 billion.

Next is Astra Labsits shares have since risen 214% Premiered in March. The provider of artificial intelligence and cloud connectivity technology was recently valued at about $18 billion.

Others doing well include location sharing apps Life360data security provider scarlet letterand delivery robot developers service robot.

Technology stocks underperform

List of underperforming IPOs includes many companies headquartered or founded outside the U.S.

One is Web comics entertainmentis a storytelling platform founded in South Korea and headquartered in Los Angeles. Its shares have fallen by about a third since its initial public offering was priced in June.

chiffonThe Israeli maker of liquid crystal controllers and thin films also fared poorly, with its stock price falling by about half since its listing in June.

Meanwhile, Denver-based IbotaThe price of the shopping cashback app is also down about 17% from its quoted price and 34% from its all-time high price.

Top biotech performers

Biotech companies that have gone public on the public markets this year have also experienced many ups and downs.

On the plus side, one outstanding question is CG oncologythe company is developing a bladder cancer treatment. Its shares soared on its first day of trading in January and gained further following promising clinical trial results. As of this week, the stock price is up about 90% from the issue price.

Another player who performed strongly was Seribeldeveloper of electroencephalography technology for diagnosing and managing serious neurological disorders. The company’s stock price has risen 70% since the company completed its IPO in October.

Other companies whose share prices have risen significantly since their IPOs include cancer treatment developers ArriVent Biopharmaceutical Company and drug discovery startups Septna.

Biotech underperforms

Other biotech companies’ post-IPO performances have been less cause for celebration.

One of the worst performing companies is metagenomeis a developer of new genome-editing tools that raised more than $450 million in venture capital before going public in February. Since then, its shares have fallen by more than four-fifths.

fiber biologicsStartups using fibroblasts for regenerative medicine also underperformed. Shares have fallen by more than two-thirds since its direct listing in January at a reference price of $8.

Furyk HealthAnother laggard are developers of treatments that target the root causes of obesity and diabetes. Its shares have fallen more than 80% since listing in February under the ticker GUTS.

Overall, IPO count rises, but performance lags major indexes

Overall, more companies have gone public this year at prices above their issue prices than at prices below them.

Of the 168 companies listed on U.S. exchanges in 2024, about 56% are currently trading above their offering price, Every IPOScoop.com. Overall, the total return is about 8%.

Sounds pretty good. But it would be better to invest directly in the Nasdaq, which is up about 35% this year.