Data management platform Box became the first technology IPO of 2015 and popped 66% on its first day. The company's successful debut could encourage other technology IPOs to launch, but right now health care companies dominate the IPO calendar: 13 of the 15 upcoming IPOs are biotechs, diagnostics and medical products. 12 IPOs were added to the calendar during the past week, 10 of which are health care companies planning to raise less than $100 million. The other two included Shake Shack (SHAK) and a large REIT (HIFR).
A bigger Box: Data SaaS platform up 66%
Box (BOX) raised $175 million and traded up 66% after it priced above the range, giving it the best first-day return since The Habit Restaurants (HABT) popped 120% in November. Its debut is the latest high-loss enterprise software IPO to come to market below the most recent fundraising valuation, after Hortonworks (HDP) and New Relic (NEWR).
After remaining on file for 300 days (over 4.5x the average for a tech IPO), Box's highly-anticipated IPO drew criticism for its operating losses and concerns over the commoditization of data. The company's trailing twelve-month operating loss was $130 million, higher than 99.6% of all IPOs in 2014. Box must also differentiate itself from competitors, as Microsoft, Google and Dropbox increasingly move into the enterprise storage space. However, Box IPO'd with rapid growth, impressive Fortune 500 customers and a compelling valuation relative to peers.
Oil transportation makes moves
Belgian shipping company Euronav (EURN), which owns 53 oil tankers, raised $199 million and listed its shares on the NYSE. The company's stock currently trades on the Euronext Brussels. The week's only initial filer was also an oil tanker company (TNKS), and it claims that declining oil prices stimulate demand for its transportation services.
| IPO pricings (week of January 19, 2015) | |||||
| Company (Ticker) | Business | Deal Size ($mm) | IPO Price vs. Midpoint | First-Day Pop | Return as of 1/23 |
| Box (BOX) | Data management platform | $175 | 17% | 66% | 66% |
| Euronav (EURN) |
Belgian oil tanker operator |
$199 | 0% | -1% | -1% |
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IPO market snapshot
The Renaissance IPO Index, a market cap weighted basket of newly public companies that is designed to represent the US IPO market, gained 7.7% in 2014 and is up 13.8% in the past 90 days. Renaissance Capital's IPO ETF (NYSE: IPO) tracks the index, and its top holdings include Zoetis (ZTS), Alibaba (BABA), Twitter (TWTR), Hilton (HLT) and Ally Financial (ALLY).
