Facebook
Twitter
Entering the week, only four U.S. companies had gone public since Facebook’s (Nasdaq: FB) ill-fated May 18 IPO. But IPOs are back with a vengeance this week.
Two initial public offerings began trading today. Three more IPOs are expected to price before the week is out.
Should all of them price, it would mark the busiest week for IPOs since before Facebook went public. Of the five companies expecting to price, Kayak is the clear headliner.
Kayak is probably familiar to anyone who has booked a flight or a hotel room online recently. The Connecticut-based company operates an online platform that allows consumers to compare flight, hotel and travel information from around the world.
Kayak plans to raise up to $87 million in its IPO by selling shares between $22 and $25 a pop. The stock is expected to price today, and begin trading on the Nasdaq exchange on Friday under the symbol KYAK.
Durata Therapeutics (Nasdaq: DRTX) and Five Below (Nasdaq: FIVE) gained listing today – the first U.S. IPOs this month.
Durata is a biotech company developing an antibiotic intended to treat acute skin infections. It raised $68 million in its IPO, and began trading at $9 per share – below its expected $11-$13 range. The stock is up 3% in its debut.
Five Below is a retailer that caters to teens and pre-teens. The stock is already up a remarkable 62% in its first two hours of public trading despite pricing at the high end ($17 per share) of its IPO range.
Unlike last month, it appears this sudden IPO surge will last longer than one week. No fewer than seven more IPOs are scheduled to price next week.
Perhaps the IPO market is finally over the botched Facebook IPO.