The past 18 months has been a blockbuster period for ASX floats, as the IPO window blasted open despite pandemic-inspired uncertainty.
But despite a few standout performers such as Aussie Broadband, investors who decided to hold on to the most-hyped floats of the last year haven’t had the best results, suggesting that the old institutional adage about new listings — buy cheap, profit early — still has some currency.
When analytics company Nuix listed in December in a $1.8bn float, it was the biggest IPO of 2020, and one of the most eagerly anticipated.
After a strong start to listed life, with shares peaking at $11.85 in January, Nuix has been on a long slide and closed Friday at $3.59 — 32.4 per cent below its $5.31 float price and almost 70 per cent off its January peak.
The slide began with a disappointing set of financial results in February, and Nuix tanked badly when it cut guidance in April.
The institutional investors that bought a collective 177m shares in the Nuix float would have taken a collective $304.4m bath if they were all still hanging on to their shares.
The story is worse for investors in Adore Beauty’s $6.75 float last October, with the beauty retailer closing Friday at $3.68, down 45.5 per cent from its float price, despite the company beating prospectus forecasts and saying last week its third-quarter revenue was up 47 per cent on the same period last year, to $39.4m.
Adore raised $270m in the IPO, and listed with an indicative capitalisation of $635m. It is now worth about $348.3m.
October 2020 was an extraordinarily mixed month for ASX floats – and perhaps highlights that hot stocks in a pandemic don’t look so hot when the country enters recovery mode.
Furniture and garden e-commerce marketplace MyDeal raised $40m in a $1 float, listing with a market cap of $260. It is now worth 65c a share.
Face mask maker Cleanspace Holdings also got a $300m IPO away at $4.41, with existing holders offloading $112m to new holders and the company raising $20m in fresh cash. It’s now worth $1.81 share, down more than 58 per cent.
October’s listings also included the standout $190m float of Aussie broadband, which raised $40m at $1 and is now worth $2.85.
Ready-made meal company YouFoodz raised $70m at $1.50 a share, and was worth $202m after listing in December. It’s now worth $65.3m, at 48.7c a share.
BNPL entrant Payright raised $18.5m in its December IPO at $1.20 and is now trading at 61c.
The other high profile float of late 2020, Booktopia, which raised $43.1m at $2.30, is trading just ahead of par, at $2.56.
Airtasker is up 83 per cent from its 65c float price in March.
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