Big deals drove the quarter
AI-heavy blockbusters kept the momentum going. Bloomberg's data show offerings on US exchanges brought in $36.1 billion over the three months to Sept. 30, after stripping out blank-check firms and similar structures, with SK Hynix's $26.5 billion ADR sale doing the heavy lifting. That pace ranked as the second most active quarter since 2021, behind the June stretch when SpaceX and others helped push totals to $117 billion.
It was not just one outlier. Four listings topped the $1 billion mark in Q3: SK Hynix, Bending Spoons SpA, Csquare Inc. and Jersey Mike's Subs Inc. Among that group, Csquare and Jersey Mike's currently sit at least 25% under their IPO prices.
Winners and laggards on debut
Backing the biggest issuers has worked this year. Since listing, SpaceX is up 12% and SK Hynix is ahead 24%, lifting the weighted average return for 2024's US IPO crop to 8.8%, per Bloomberg's calculations. Take out transactions that raised more than $10 billion and the picture flips, with US IPOs showing a 4% weighted average decline.
The split reflects how investors are sorting the likely AI beneficiaries from the rest, while higher rates continue to pinch growth names.
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Caution check: deals on ice
Not everyone pressed ahead. In September, Holtec Nuclear Corp., Bamboo Insurance Services Inc. and Oura Inc. each postponed sizeable offerings, citing market conditions, even as major stock indexes were setting record highs.
Renos Savvides, who leads equity capital markets at Neuberger Berman Group, said demand from institutions has been inconsistent, with long-only funds in particular showing caution. "Whenever you have a blip in the IPO market like the one we've seen recently, you need a watertight deal or something that comes at an attractive valuation so people feel good about how it will work out," he said.
What to watch next
Year to date, US listings have raised $162.6 billion. All eyes now turn to Anthropic, whose potential float could rival or surpass SpaceX's, a swing that would push 2024 well beyond the $195.2 billion full-year record set in 2021.
Pipeline chatter also includes Nscale targeting up to $3 billion, ProEnergy seeking a valuation of up to $50 billion, Westinghouse looking at a valuation above $50 billion and Blockchain.com aiming for a $500 million IPO this year.
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