IPO Pops Double in Size This Year, A Sign of Market Frothiness

As if there was any doubt, new data shows just how frothy this year’s market for tech initial public offerings is compared to past years. Shares of tech IPOs this year jumped an average of 63% on their first trading day, nearly double the first-day pop for last year’s tech IPOs, according to data from Dealogic. And last year’s average first-day pop of 34% was up from 26% in 2019.

Dealogic’s data is based on 15 tech IPOs it has tracked so far this year, which compares with only four at this time last year. To be sure, it’s only mid-February. But if the bull market continues at the same pace, it portends massive moves for big upcoming public debuts including Instacart, enterprise software firm Samsara and online retailer Coupang. And it’s likely to fuel the longstanding debate among venture capitalists about whether traditional IPOs are priced correctly.