IPO Update: Mid-Year Average Return Deceptively Positive In Down Market

Outlier Leads To 25% Gain For 2022 Offerings

The 14 biopharma firms that went public during the first half of the year generated a 25% average return, helped by an outlier whose value rose 585%. Excluding Belite Bio, the -18% return for the IPO class of 2022 is more representative of current market realities. 

3d illustration inflation and deflation graph
Excluding the top two performers, the average return dropped from 25% to -33% • Source: Shutterstock

At first glance, the 14 biopharmaceutical firms that went public during the first half of 2022 appear to be holding up well with an average return of 25% versus their initial public offering values. However, this year’s IPO class performance was propped up by a pair of outliers – Belite Bio, Inc., which debuted at $6 per share and closed up 585% on 6 July, and Nuvectis Pharma, Inc., which jumped 160% from its $5 IPO price.

Excluding Belite, the average return for the remaining 13 companies was -18%, and without Nuvectis, the other 12 companies generated an average return of -32.9%

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