In the end, October wasn't that bad for the IPO market. There were 19 companies that dared to go public this month, including a whopping nine in a single week.
There were plenty of winners, led by Workday (WDAY 2.90%). The provider of cloud-based enterprise software priced its debut at $28, but that wasn't enough. The stock opened at $48.05, and that's pretty much where it stands now. Workday closed last week at $50, giving retail and institutional investors who were lucky to get IPO shares a nice 79% pop.
Kythera Biopharma (NASDAQ: KYTH) is the month's second biggest winner. The biotech specializing in aesthetic medicine is trading 50% above its $16 debut. Kythera's biggest product is an injectable drug that treats double chins. It's in the third and final phase of clinical development.
The three companies that went public this week aren't there -- yet. Let's take a closer look at last week's debutantes.
| Company |
IPO |
10/26/12 |
Gain |
|---|---|---|---|
|
MPLX (MPLX 1.71%) |
$22 |
$27.20 |
24% |
|
WhiteWave Foods (WWAV +0.00%) |
$17 |
$16.75 |
(2%) |
|
Lehigh Gas Partners (LGP +0.98%) |
$20 |
$20.84 |
3% |
Source: The Wall Street Journal.
MPLX is a limited partnership that operates a network of pipelines for the transporting of crude oil. The subsidiary of Marathon Petroleum (MPC +1.45%) was initially set to go public between $19 and $21. It priced at $22.
WhiteWave Foods is another company with ties to a publicly traded parent, having been spun off by Dean Foods (DF +0.00%). It's easy to see why Dean Foods chose to do this: Organics are hot. Annie's (NYSE: BNNY) is one of this year's better-performing IPOs, and Whole Foods Market (WFM +0.00%) has come through with several quarters of robust comps. WhiteWave is the company behind the Horizon Organic and Silk brands.
Finally, we have Lehigh Gas Partners. The wholesale distributor of fuel to gas stations, convenience stores, truck stops, and toll plazas should appeal to income investors, given its intention to pay at least $0.44 a share every three months.
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