US IPO Weekly Winners & Losers

For the first time in three months, the IPO market bagged some large tech deals. Both went public at market caps north of $5 billion, or 0.1x sales for one (Ingram), and 100x sales for the other (WeRide).

IT distributor Ingram Micro (NYSE: INGM) returned to public markets this week, raising $409 million at a $5.3 billion market cap. It was hard to get too excited about the financials, but the valuation showed some clear upside, and Ingram gained +12% in its debut.

The old-school tech firm was joined by Chinese robotaxi startup WeRide (Nasdaq: WRD), which was able to quickly re-launch a largely pre-sold US IPO. The company raised $120 million, mostly from a cornerstone investor, plus another $320 million from private placements. WeRide finished up +7%.

It’s a good sign that the deals priced, but neither translates well to the majority of US tech unicorns in the backlog. A better indicator: The year’s VC-backed tech IPOs now average a 62% return from offer, with three of the four trading above issue.

Septerna (Nasdaq: SEPN) rounded out the week’s sizable offerings. The small molecule drug developer raised $288 million in its upsized deal, putting it in the top five largest biotech IPOs of the year. It traded up +19%. It’s worth mentioning that energy producer Peak Resources LP (NYSE American: PRB) didn’t get done, and is now marked as pricing “day-to-day.”

With the US presidential election on the horizon, the IPO calendar looks quiet for the week ahead. We expect a slower pace through the end of the year, peppered with a few interesting deals, before a bigger pickup in 2025.

The IPO Index gained +0.1% this week, outpacing the S&P 500’s -1.0% loss. Chinese EV maker ZEEKR was the winner, up +29.3%. Precision medicine company Tempus AI landed at the bottom, off -11.8%.