The IPOX® Week #712
IPOX® 100 U.S. (ETF: FPX) soars +4.52% in impressive sprint vs. benchmarks.
IPO M&A-focused GINDEX® U.S. Growth Infusion Index climbs to all-time high.
IPOX® Health Innovation leads anew as dovish Fed sparks hope in biotech.
IPOX® SPAC (SPAC) climbs +3.73% to 22.24% YTD. 1 new SPAC launched.
IPOX® PERFORMANCE REVIEW: All IPOX® Indexes surged during options and futures expiration week, as Fed announcements, hinting at a dovish pivot for 2024, sparked a broad rally in global markets. In the U.S., bond yields fell across the board, with 30-year treasuries ending the week just 1 bps. above the 4% mark. Our diversified innovation benchmark IPOX® 100 U.S. (ETF: FPX) soared +4.52% to +21.83% YTD, closing the gap to the S&P 500 in an impressive year-end sprint, overtaking all major benchmarks during this quarter. Our global indexes also showed strong performances. As the hawkish stance of the ECB against rate cuts strengthened the Euro, our USD-denominated IPOX® Europe (ETF: FPXE) climbed +3.15% to +11.06% YTD. Buoyed by gains in our Scandinavia-focused exposure (i.e., IPOX® Nordic (IPND): +3.58%), the index took an impressive 163 bps. from the STOXX 50 (SX5L, USD) benchmark. The IPOX® International (ETF: FPXI) improved by +2.44% to +7.82% YTD on select large cap holdings and forex-related gains. As the prospect of rate cuts is set to benefit the cash-hungry biopharma R&D sector, the IPOX® Health Innovation (IPHI: +4.62%) led the IPOX® Indexes for the second week, while the IPOX® U.S. ESG (IPXT: +4.04%) improved its lead against the S&P 500 (SPX), now beating the benchmark by a considerable 155 bps. YTD.
GINDEX® PERFORMANCE REVIEW: We are happy to note the new all-time high of our GINDEX® U.S. Growth Infusion Index (GNDX), gaining +4.18% to +18.84% YTD. This innovative portfolio focuses on the acquirers of recently-public firms and is now leading the S&P 500 by 880 bps. since its 2021 launch, offering an attractive way to structure exposure against the benchmark.
IPOX® PORTFOLIO STOCKS IN FOCUS: In the IPOX® 100 U.S. (ETF: FPX), the story of the week belongs to Rivian (RIVN US: +19.91%), which fell -10% last month after announcing the end of its lucrative exclusivity deal with Amazon. Since then, the EV maker surged +48.92%, performing a U-Turn with a new agreement to help electrify the fleet of communications giant AT&T. In the same sector, autonomous driving 2021 de-SPAC Aurora Innovation (AUR US: +40.96%) shot to a 52-week high, amid continuing takeover rumors. Rocket Companies (RKT US: +30.73%) took off after avoiding the threat of a class action lawsuit due to its meme-stock past. Climate change solutions provider Carrier Global (CARR US: +3.37%) continued its gains on the back of yet another M&A corporate action, selling its commercial fridge unit to Chinese refrigeration giant Haier. Recovering eye drug pharma firm Apellis Pharmaceuticals (APLS US: -16.02%) reverted last week’s surge on news regarding the EU approval of its eye drug Syfovre. Israel-based cross border payments facilitator Global-e (GLBE US: +15.05%), both in the IPOX® International and IPOX® Europe, climbed on new buy recommendations. We also note strong recent sentiment in the private equity sector, e.g. TPG (TPG US: +12.22%), with investment giants General Atlantic and CVC Partners planning IPOs for 2024.
IPO MARKET REVIEW AND OUTLOOK: 8 sizable firms started trading across the global equity universe tracked by IPOX® last week with the average (median) equally-weighted deal adding +57.79% (+10.64%) based on the difference between the respective final offering price and Friday’s close. In a notable spin-off, the $10 billion material research unit Syensqo (SYENS BB: +13.51% above reference price) separated from Belgian chemicals giant Solvay and started trading on Euronext Brussels and Paris. The positive reception of this move highlighted the case for spinoffs amid a quiet European IPO market, with French services firm Sodexo and pharma giant Sanofi planning separations of their customer rewards and consumer healthcare units, respectively. In South Korea, battery materials firm LS Materials (417200 KS: +411.67%, $65m offer), part of conglomerate LS Group, highlighted the ongoing appetite for EV-related firms in the country amid the ongoing short-selling ban. Polish real estate developer Murapol (MUR PW: +13.94%, $102m) was the largest traditional IPO last week, gaining in the first Warsaw IPO in two years. In the U.S., the $62m ADR offer of Chinese maintenance service firm ZKH Group (ZKH US: 0.00%) traded unchanged.
10 international IPOs are expected this week, with 5 listings in Hong Kong, 3 in India and 1 each in Australia and Switzerland. The largest is EV battery firm REPT BATTERO (666 HK, $272m offer) on Monday. For more information visit the IPOX® IPO Calendar.
THE IPOX® SPAC (SPAC): The Index of 50 constituents trading at both the pre- and post-consummation stage added +3.73% to +22.24% YTD. Fintech SoFi Technologies (SOFI US: +15.01%) gained most with strong tech rebound. Flight vision system developer AerSale (ASLE US: -8.85%) fell on discounted secondary offering. Other news: 1) No SPAC Announced Merger Agreement last week. 2) 4 SPACs Approved Combinations, e.g. 7GC & Co with Washington-based virtual event management and analytic platform Banzai International (BNZI US: -43.02%). 3) At least 2 SPACs announced to liquidate. 4) 1 new SPAC launched last week in the U.S.
