Arm and Instacart slides shows the global IPO window may have already slammed shut
A slide in the value of Arm and delivery outfit Instacart have dampened hopes that the global IPO market is about to swing wide open, analysts have warned today.
Shares in Nasdaq-listed Cambridge chipmaker Arm have tumbled for four consecutive sessions after an initial surge last week
The post-IPO climb – which took Arm north of a $75bn value at points – was hopefully received by investors as a sign that appetite for the public markets was returning after a barren year globally.
The Arm boost was compounded by the listing of San Francisco-based Instacart, which saw an initial surge in value before closing up 12 per cent. Shares began to slide below their IPO price in pre-market trading today, however.
Analysts have now warned the dampening valuations may suggest that investor demand is still wobbly after a volatile year.
“The IPO market may have erupted back into life over the past week, but the jury is still out on whether there is investor appetite for new listings,” Josh Warner, Market Analyst, City Index, tolc City PM
“Instacart is slipping below its IPO price in premarket trade today while Arm is set to lose ground for a fifth consecutive session as it continues to tumble back toward its listing price.”
He added that the latest firm to test the waters – e-commerce firm Klaviyo – initially soared when it went public yesterday but “swiftly reversed course and is at risk of following a similar path”.
“It appears markets could still be haunted by the over-zealous valuations demanded by most of the tech stocks that went public between 2019 and 2022,” he added, “even after a two-year drought for the IPO market, while the uncertain economic outlook and slower growth prospects won’t be helping either.”
Arm’s float had been hotly anticipated and was regarded as a litmus test for the public markets after a huge slowdown in the past 18 months.
The Global IPO market notched 615 IPOs in the first half of the year, raising $60.9bn, down 36 per cent in value on an already quiet 2022.
Analysts at Hargreaves Lansdown said the tumble in Arm and Instacart were “something to be monitored” but maintained that market conditions “continue to be more supportive for a bigger slate of IPOs coming to market”.
“What’s compelling is that neither Instacart or Arm’s share price slides have been overly dramatic and seem to be more within the correction side of things, rather than being indicative of a bigger problem,” said Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at the firm.
“While the length of the slide clearly needs to be monitored, at this point, I don’t think the market’s reaction is anything that will dissuade those preparing to come to market.”
However, a bigger question lingered over valuation, she added, and whether Instacart and Arm are given a fair chance to see their valuations climb in the short-term.