Last month was a big one for initial public offerings – if you were interested in biotechs, that is. ‘Net investors, in contrast, were treated to a real October surprise: Just one Internet IPO.
Fiber-optic Internet network provider Asia Global Crossing debuted on the street Oct. 6, finishing the day at $7.38 per share, just 5% above its offer price of $7 for 53 million shares.
Otherwise, that was it.
And this after a mini-flurry of Internet IPOs in late September, which seemed to indicate increased activity as the fall got under way. Instead, there since has been next-to-no action, and there may not be any going forward until the market demonstrates it has found a bottom.
If we didn’t see another ‘Net stock debut before Dec. 31, this year would still average 10 Internet IPOs per month. That’s more than any other year except 1999, when there were 258 ‘Net public offerings, or more than 20 per month.
But as every Internet investor knows only too well, this year isn’t last year.
Here are the numbers for Internet IPOs through October:
| Month | This year | 1999 |
|---|---|---|
| January | 5 | 4 |
| February | 27 | 11 |
| March | 27 | 13 |
| April | 13 | 17 |
| May | 6 | 26 |
| June | 11 | 32 |
| July | 13 | 35 |
| August | 12 | 26 |
| September | 7 | 26 |
| October | 1 | 21 |
| Total | 122 | 211 |
Average First-Day Return (By Month)
| Month | This Year | 1999 |
|---|---|---|
| January | 160% | 241% |
| February | 126% | 122% |
| March | 99% | 134% |
| April | 31% | 116% |
| May | 38% | 59% |
| June | 41% | 116% |
| July | 63% | 74% |
| August | 14% | 45% |
| September | 57% | 72% |
| October | 5% | 112% |
10 Best Internet Debuts of 2000
| Company | IPO Date | Gain |
|---|---|---|
| webMethods | Feb. 11 | 508% |
| Crayfish | March 8 | 414% |
| Selectica | March 10 | 371% |
| FirePond | Feb. 4 | 356% |
| Neoforma.com | Jan. 24 | 303% |
| Extensity | Jan. 27 | 256% |
| ArrowPoint | March 31 | 248% |
| Storage Networks | June 30 | 234% |
| GigaMedia | Feb. 17 | 226% |
| net.Genesis | Feb. 29 | 216% |
10 Worst Internet Debuts of 2000
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| Company | IPO Date | Loss |
|---|---|---|
| iAsiaWorks | Aug. 3 | -27% |
| INTERLAND | July 25 | -26% |
| ARTISTdirect | March 28 | -22% |
| Avistar Communications | Aug. 17 | -22% |
| AsiaContent.com | April 12 | -21% |
| coolsavings.com | May 19 | -21% |
| ScreamingMedia | Aug. 3 | -13% |
| PartsBase.com | March 22 | -12% |
| ImproveNet | March 16 | -12% |
| RadView Software | Aug. 9 | -10% |