Solo Brands , known for its grills and fire pits, and clean energy storage firm Fluence Energy both gained during their first day of trading, while chip maker GlobalFoundries dropped below its offer price.
GlobalFoundries and Fluence both opened on the Nasdaq, while Solo is trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
This week, nearly a dozen companies were expected to go public. Three firms opened on Wednesday. Rent the Runway (ticker: RENT), the online fashion rental company, dropped 8% from its $23 initial public offering. Informatica (INFA), the data-management company backed by the private-equity firm Permira, closed flat at its $29 offer price. Arteris
(AIP), a provider of chip technology, rose 17% after pricing its deal at $14 a share.
The IPO market has grown discerning, and not every growth company will gain in the aftermarket, investment bankers have said. Six firms were expected to go public Thursday, but only three are opening. Ensemble Health Partners, Candela Medical, and LianBio had also been scheduled to list.
Ensemble Health, which supplies revenue cycle management software for health systems including hospitals, has postponed its offering because of adverse market conditions. It will continue to evaluate the timing for the proposed IPO, a statement said.
Candela, which makes devices for cosmetic surgery, has also postponed its listing, a person familiar with the situation said. LianBio didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
GlobalFoundries (GFS), one of the most anticipated offerings of the fourth quarter, became the latest IPO to fall below its offer price. This technically makes it a broken deal.
Several companies last week, including medical technology company Minerva Surgical
(UTRS), software provider Cyngn (CYN), and The Vita Coco Company
(COCO), which sells packaged coconut water, also fell below their offer prices.
On Thursday, GlobalFoundries stock opened at $47, peaked at $48 and by early afternoon, had dropped to $45.60, down nearly 3% from its offer price.
The Malta, New York company raised nearly $2.6 billion after selling 55 million shares at $47 each, the top of its $42 to $47 price range.
GlobalFoundries makes integrated circuits that power electronic devices, like cars, mobile phones, and personal computers. The company was formed in 2009 when Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) spun off its manufacturing operations. At $47 a share, GlobalFoundries boasts a valuation of $25 billion.
Shares of Solo Brands (DTC), which makes nearly smokeless fire pits as well as grills, rose by nearly 23% in its market debut. The stock launched at $22.36, hit a high of $22.39 and recently traded at $20.85, up nearly $3.85 from its offer price.
Late Wednesday, Southlake, Texas-based Solo collected $219.3 million. It sold 12.9 million shares at $17 each, also the top of its $14 to $17 price range.
Founded in 2011, Solo is a direct-to-consumer platform of outdoor lifestyle brands. The company is known for its Solo Stove Lite, a portable backpacking camp stove that can boil water in less than 10 minutes using just twigs, sticks, and leaves. Solo launched its nearly smokeless fire pits in 2016.
The company also offers kayaks, paddle boards, and men’s apparel. Summit Partners invested in Solo in 2020. The growth equity firm will own 46% of Solo after the IPO, a prospectus said.
Fluence Energy also jumped in its first day. Shares of Fluence (FLNC) kicked off at $33.50, hit a high of $34.29, and recently traded at $33.85, up roughly 21% from its offer price. Fluence late Wednesday raised more than expected; the company collected $868 million after selling 31 million shares at $28, higher than its $21 to $24 range.
Established in January 2018 as a joint venture between Siemens AG and AES (AES), Fluence Energy provides energy storage technology to utilities, developers, and commercial, and industrial customers. Siemens and AES will each own 45.8% after the IPO, the prospectus said.
Write to Luisa Beltran at [email protected]
