The IPO market’s string of pricing IPOs with strength turn into a pair of nice premiums at first trade.
Caris Life Sciences (CAI US) had Wall Street bid up its IPO and it paid off.
The company describes itself as a leading, patient-centric, next-generation AI TechBio company priced a full size deal of 23.5mm shares at $21.00 (above the upwardly-revised $19-$20 range) and opened at $27.00 for a gain of 28.6% at first trade.
The stock traded as high as $29.40 in early trading before selling off but finishing the opening session on a high note with a close of $28.00. The stock traded with 15.5mm shares of volume which is a little north of half of the float that was solid in this transaction.
According to our sources, the deal finished multiple-times oversubscribed with a mix of new and existing investors. Multiple mutual-fund anchor orders were in the book including a $75m order on the cover of the prospectus from Neuberger Berman. With the demand early in the roadshow, the underwriters were able to upwardly-revise the range from $16-$18 to $19-$20. Management was expected to have their fingertips all over the allocation process and our sources indicated that the top ten accounts took 50% of the deal, the top 25 took home 75% and 40% of the order book was “zeroed” or shut out of the book.
It is our opinion that the “juice” may have been squeezed out of this IPO by the company leading up to the debut. The underwriters and company continued to raise the price which took some of the gains at first trade out of investors’ hands and into the pocket of the company. However, IPO investors were still able to take six points of premium from this IPO which is a solid win. The stock tried to make a run during Friday’s session and traded as high as $30.70 but sold off quickly and closed the week at $27.25.
Another Insurance IPO produces a premium for its shareholders.
Slide Insurance Holdings (SLDE US) became the fourth insurance company to go public in the first half of 2025 and fourth to open higher.
Slide Holdings Insurance, Inc. (SLDE) priced 24.0mm shares (upsized from 20.0mm) at $17.00 and opened at $21.00 for a gain of 23.5% at first trade. Slide had around 12 million shares traded in volume on day one which was just about half of the float. The stock closed at $20.25 on day one for a gain of 19.1% at the close on day one. The fireworks were not finished as Slide Traded 15% higher in its second session and closed the week at $23.30 for a return of 37% for IPO investors still holding the stock.
According to our sources, the deal finished north of 12-times oversubscribed. The deal was allocated in a way that saw the top ten accounts receive 65% of the deal and the top 20 accounts took home 80% of the transaction.
With a strong, clean and well-capitalized balance sheet and tailwinds from the sector, it was no “surprise” to see a four-point premium at open.
Looking ahead to this week, there is one IPO on the calendar, Jefferson Capital (JCAP), which is scheduled for a Thursday debut.