This month's wild market volatility wasn't enough to clog the pipeline of Wall Street debutantes.
Seven companies completed their initial public offerings last week. They aren't all household names, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Investors looking for true ground-floor opportunities don't want to explore the equity market's birth announcements only to find mature, established companies with their best years in the rearview mirror.
A big name may be one of the signs of a hot IPO in the near term, but long-term returns can be pretty spectacular if a company with an obscure starting line shines after going public.
Let's go over the seven companies that dared to go public despite Mr. Market's nasty waves.
|
Company |
Offer |
5/14/10 |
Gain |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Kingtone Wirelessinfo |
$4.00 |
$3.94 |
(2%) |
|
JinkoSolar |
$11.00 |
$11.01 |
0% |
|
Noranda Aluminum |
$8.00 |
$8.80 |
10% |
|
TeleNav |
$8.00 |
$9.20 |
15% |
|
Express |
$17.00 |
$15.86 |
(7%) |
|
Roadrunner Transportation |
$14.00 |
$13.85 |
(1%) |
|
Niska Gas Storage |
$20.50 |
$18.79 |
(8%) |
Source: Yahoo! Finance.
The stocks come from all different walks of life. JinkoSolar is a Chinese maker of solar cells. Kingtone also hails from China, but it creates mobile enterprise software applications. Noranda smelts and refines aluminum. TeleNav provides voice directions on GPS-enabled mobile phones. Express is the mall-based apparel retailer with more than 550 namesake stores. Roadrunner is a trucking logistics company. Niska Gas is an energy-based holding company with interests in a number of limited partnerships.
They weren't all winners, and some had difficulties smoking out buyers until they priced at the low end of their initial pricing ranges.
The real test will be what these seven companies do in their first few quarters as a public company. It is the future, after all, that will dish out the ultimate scorecard.
What private company would you like to see go public in 2010? Share your answer in the comments box below.
