Objectively speaking, 2024 was a boring year for tech startup IPOs.
Only a handful of US tech unicorns have made it to market. The biotechnology offer, although more extensive, is also well below previous peaks.
The results on the secondary market are also not dramatic. Some of them are significantly higher than their debut price, others are significantly reduced, and many of them look relatively flat.
Still, we will spot a few standout elements in this set. Below, we highlight the winners and losers of venture-backed technology and biotech corporations, focusing on large- and mid-cap IPOs.
The best technology performers
Among the larger technology offerings, this is the clear winner this year Reddit. Shares of the popular discussion platform have surged 332%* since the company’s March IPO, giving it a market capitalization of roughly $26 billion.
He’s next in line Astera’s laboratorywhose shares have increased by 214% since March. The artificial intelligence and cloud connectivity technology provider was recently valued at around $18 billion.
Others that did well were the location-sharing app Life360data security provider Headingand creator of delivery robots Serve robotics.
Technically weaker
The rating of the weakest IPOs includes many corporations based or founded outside the USA
There is one Internet entertainmentstorytelling platform founded in Korea and headquartered in Los Angeles. Since the company’s shares were priced on the stock exchange in June, the company’s shares have lost about a third of their value.
Gasthe Israeli maker of controllers and liquid crystal movies is also performing poorly, with its shares having lost about half of their value since its June debut.
Meanwhile, based in Denver Ibottathe cashback app was also down about 17% from its asking price and 34% from its all-time high.
The best biotechnology performers
Biotech corporations that debuted on public markets this year have also had their fair proportion of ups and downs.
On the other hand, there is one feature that stands out CG Oncologywhich is developing a drug for bladder cancer. The company’s shares soared on the first day in January and continued to rise following favorable clinical trial results. The stock is up about 90% from its offering price this week.
Another strong performer is Ceribellcreator of electroencephalography technology for diagnosing and treating serious neurological diseases. Shares are up 70% since the company’s initial public offering ended in October.
Others that have risen significantly since their IPO include the cancer drug developer ArriVent BioPharma and drug discovery startup Septern.
Weaker performance in biotechnology
Other biotech corporations have little to have fun about their post-IPO performance.
One of the worst performers is Metagenomicsdeveloper of novel genome editing tools that raised greater than $450 million in enterprise funding before going public in February. Since then, the company’s shares have lost greater than four-fifths of their value.
FibroBiologicsa startup that uses cells called fibroblasts for regenerative medicine is also doing poorly. Since its debut on the market in January, at a reference price of $8, the company’s shares have lost greater than two-thirds of their value.
Fractyl Healthdeveloper of therapies targeting the root causes of obesity and diabetes is one other laggard. Since its debut in February under the ticker symbol GUTS, its shares have fallen greater than 80%.
Overall, IPOs are rising but performing worse than the major indexes
Overall, more corporations that have gone public this year are trading above their offering price than below.
Of the 168 corporations that debuted on U.S. exchanges in 2024, roughly 56% are currently above their offering price, for IPOScoop.com. In total, the total return is roughly 8%.
That doesn’t sound so bad. However, you can be higher off simply investing in the Nasdaq Composite Index, which is up about 35% over the year.