MW The 20 best-performing IPOs of the past three years have returned up to 1,477%
By Philip van Doorn
These winners include BioNTech, Zoom, CrowdStrike and Nio
These are exciting times for active money managers: The number of publicly traded companies is increasing, reversing a long-term trend. This is happening because more companies are being brought to market through initial public offerings (IPOs).
And buying shares through an IPO can translate into big returns, as this list (below) of the best-performing stocks that have gone public over the past three years shows. It excludes blank-check companies, including the ones known as SPACs.
Just how big is the boom? There have been 591 IPOs in the U.S. and Canada so far this year, including SPACs, following 630 in 2020, according to data provider FactSet. That 18-month total of 1,221 IPOs compares to 1,535 for the previous five years through the end of 2019.
The number of publicly traded companies had been declining for years , in part because corporate managers didn't want to be burdened by the complex reporting and disclosure requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, according to Brad Lamensdorf, CEO of investment adviser ActiveAlts.
But now, with strong overall performance in the stock market, new interest among individual investors and elevated IPO activity, he sees more opportunities for professional traders and money managers to gain an edge over index funds and ETFs.
Best-performing IPOs in the U.S. and Canada
To show a list of best-performing IPOs, we set parameters for data compiled by FactSet. Blank-check companies, including special-purpose acquisition companies, were excluded. A SPAC typically is designed to effect a transformational merger within two years of its formation. The merger will circumvent the typical regulated IPO process. The typical SPAC goes public at a price of $10 a share and trades around that price until a merger deal is announced. The best-known examples of these include Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. $(SPCE)$, DraftKings Inc. (DKNG) and Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Tontine Holdings Ltd. $(PSTH)$.
Excluding blank-check companies, there have been 952 IPOs on U.S. or Canadian stock exchanges over the past three years -- regardless of where the companies are based. Among those, 74 no longer exist because they were either acquired or delisted. That leaves 878, of which 584 have market capitalizations of at least $200 million, the minimum value set for this list to avoid thinly traded companies.
These 20 are the best-performing IPOs over the past three years from that list:
| Company | Ticker | IPO date | IPO price | Total return from offering date | Market cap. ($mil) |
| BioNTech SE | BNTX | 10/1/2019 | $15.00 | 1477% | $57,117 |
| Very Good Butchers Inc. | CA:VERY | 1/10/2020 | $0.19 | 1411% | $268 |
| Annovis Bio Inc. | ANVS | 1/28/2020 | $6.00 | 1304% | $670 |
| Shockwave Medical Inc. | SWAV | 3/6/2019 | $17.00 | 1045% | $6,807 |
| Fiverr International Ltd. | FVRR | 6/13/2019 | $21.00 | 1000% | $8,279 |
| Zoom Video Communications Inc. | ZM | 4/17/2019 | $36.00 | 941% | $88,710 |
| SiTime Corp. | SITM | 11/20/2019 | $13.00 | 883% | $2,408 |
| Moderna Inc. | MRNA | 12/7/2018 | $23.00 | 862% | $88,882 |
| New Found Gold Corp. | CA:NFG | 7/31/2020 | $0.97 | 797% | $1,429 |
| Kodiak Sciences Inc. | KOD | 10/3/2018 | $10.00 | 752% | $4,365 |
| Twist Bioscience Corp. | TWST | 10/31/2018 | $14.00 | 749% | $5,808 |
| Bill.com Holdings Inc. | BILL | 12/12/2019 | $22.00 | 748% | $15,526 |
| Karuna Therapeutics Inc. | KRTX | 6/27/2019 | $16.00 | 719% | $3,859 |
| Silvergate Capital Corp. | SI | 11/6/2019 | $12.00 | 706% | $2,451 |
| CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. | CRWD | 6/12/2019 | $34.00 | 655% | $51,128 |
| E Home Household Service Holdings Ltd. | EJH | 5/14/2021 | $4.50 | 650% | $1,133 |
| Nio Inc. | NIO | 9/11/2018 | $6.26 | 604% | $60,052 |
| Cloudflare Inc. | NET | 9/12/2019 | $15.00 | 584% | $26,285 |
| InMode Ltd. | INMD | 8/7/2019 | $14.00 | 576% | $3,614 |
| Dye & Durham Ltd. | CA:DND | 7/13/2020 | $5.53 | 569% | $2,768 |
You can click the tickers for more about each company.
The best performer has been BioNTech SE (BNTX), a German-based biotech company listed on Nasdaq that partnered with Pfizer Inc. $(PFE)$ for the quick development of a COVID-19 vaccine last year. The stock returned 1,477% from its IPO on Oct. 1, 2019 through the close on June 22.
Moderna Inc. $(MRNA)$, which developed its own coronavirus vaccine, is also on the list, with a total return of 862% since its IPO on Dec. 7, 2018.
Other names on the list that will be familiar to active investors include Zoom Video Communications Inc. (ZM), CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. $(CRWD)$, electric-vehicle maker Nio Inc. $(NIO)$ and Cloudflare Inc. $(NET)$.
Here's a summary of sentiment among Wall Street analysts for the group:
| Company | Ticker | Share "buy" ratings | Closing price -- June 22 | Consensus price target | Implied 12-month upside potential | Number of analysts polled |
| BioNTech SE | BNTX | 31% | $236.49 | $186.33 | -21% | 13 |
| Very Good Butchers Inc. | CA:VERY | N/A | $3.75 | N/A | N/A | |
| Annovis Bio Inc. | ANVS | 100% | $84.25 | $45.00 | -47% | 1 |
| Shockwave Medical Inc. | SWAV | 50% | $194.57 | $186.00 | -4% | 6 |
| Fiverr International Ltd. | FVRR | 78% | $230.99 | $252.33 | 9% | 9 |
| Zoom Video Communications Inc. | ZM | 46% | $374.65 | $407.00 | 9% | 26 |
| SiTime Corp. | SITM | 100% | $127.79 | $134.00 | 5% | 6 |
| Moderna Inc. | MRNA | 44% | $221.36 | $177.00 | -20% | 18 |
| New Found Gold Corp. | CA:NFG | 0% | $11.62 | $4.25 | -63% | 1 |
| Kodiak Sciences Inc. | KOD | 45% | $85.15 | $121.45 | 43% | 11 |
| Twist Bioscience Corp. | TWST | 43% | $118.79 | $123.33 | 4% | 7 |
| Bill.com Holdings Holdings Inc. | BILL | 69% | $186.61 | $177.80 | -5% | 16 |
| Karuna Therapeutics Inc. | KRTX | 92% | $130.99 | $161.17 | 23% | 13 |
| Silvergate Capital Corp. | SI | 71% | $96.74 | $154.29 | 59% | 7 |
| CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. | CRWD | 92% | $256.61 | $256.91 | 0% | 24 |
| E Home Household Service Holdings Ltd. | EJH | N/A | $33.75 | N/A | N/A | |
| Nio Inc. | NIO | 78% | $44.10 | $57.38 | 30% | 18 |
| Cloudflare Inc. | NET | 81% | $102.57 | $96.20 | -6% | 16 |
| InMode Ltd. | INMD | 100% | $94.63 | $97.00 | 3% | 5 |
| Dye & Durham Ltd. | CA:DND | 80% | $50.11 | $58.90 | 18% | 5 |
The analysts polled by FactSet are on the "sell side," meaning that they work for brokerage firms, many of which may have provided investment banking services to the same companies. While sell-side analysts work in separate departments from the investment-banking departments, it is rare that their first research note on a newly listed company does not include a bullish rating.
All but four of the companies listed above are covered by at least five analysts. The prices for several have soared so high that they are way above the consensus price targets.
As for the 74 companies that went through direct IPOs over the past three years and no longer exist, here are two examples with two very different fates -- either feast or famine:
The largest companies that have gone public over the past three years
The first list, above, leaves out many of the most familiar companies that have gone public through listings in the U.S. over the past three years. Here are the largest 20, sorted by current market capitalization. All are listed on U.S. exchanges.
| Company | Ticker | IPO date | IPO price | Total return from offering date | Market cap. ($mil) |
| Pinduoduo Inc. | PDD | 7/25/2018 | $19.00 | 523% | $148,264 |
| Uber Technologies Inc. | UBER | 5/9/2019 | $45.00 | 9% | $92,115 |
| Moderna Inc. | MRNA | 12/7/2018 | $23.00 | 862% | $88,882 |
| Zoom Video Communications Inc. | ZM | 4/17/2019 | $36.00 | 941% | $88,710 |
| Snowflake Inc. | SNOW | 9/15/2020 | $120.00 | 108% | $73,822 |
| Coupang Inc. | CPNG | 3/10/2021 | $35.00 | 14% | $62,341 |
| Nio Inc. | NIO | 9/11/2018 | $6.26 | 604% | $60,052 |
| BioNTech SE | BNTX | 10/10/2019 | $15.00 | 1477% | $57,117 |
| DoorDash Inc. | DASH | 12/8/2020 | $102.00 | 75% | $52,724 |
| CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. | CRWD | 6/12/2019 | $34.00 | 655% | $51,128 |
| Palantir Technologies Inc. | PLTR | 9/29/2020 | $7.25 | 250% | $45,853 |
| KE Holdings Inc. | BEKE | 8/13/2020 | $20.00 | 148% | $44,369 |
| Pinterest Inc. | PINS | 4/17/2019 | $19.00 | 285% | $40,039 |
| Peloton Interactive Inc. | PTON | 9/25/2019 | $29.00 | 304% | $31,489 |
| Unity Software Inc. | U | 9/17/2020 | $52.00 | 112% | $30,809 |
| Lufax Holding Ltd. | LU | 10/30/2020 | $13.50 | -10% | $29,991 |
| UiPath Inc. | PATH | 4/21/2021 | $56.00 | 25% | $29,783 |
| Airbnb Inc. | ABNB | 12/9/2020 | $68.00 | 120% | $28,916 |
| Genmab A/S | GMAB | 7/17/2019 | $17.75 | 144% | $28,414 |
| Cloudflare Inc. | NET | 9/12/2019 | $15.00 | 584% | $26,285 |
The largest company by market cap that has gone public through a traditional IPO in the U.S. over the past three years is Pinduoduo Inc. $(PDD)$, which bills itself as the largest online grocer in China.
Another name, ride-sharing pioneer Uber Technologies Inc. $(UBER)$, has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Here's an analysis .
Here's a summary of Wall Street opinion about the group:
| Company | Ticker | Share "buy" ratings | Closing price -- June 22 | Consensus price target | Implied 12-month upside potential | Number of sell-side analysts polled |
| Pinduoduo Inc. | PDD | 69% | $118.30 | $163.33 | 38% | 42 |
| Uber Technologies Inc. | UBER | 88% | $49.05 | $69.91 | 43% | 41 |
| Moderna Inc. | MRNA | 44% | $221.36 | $177.00 | -20% | 18 |
| Zoom Video Communications Inc. | ZM | 46% | $374.65 | $407.00 | 9% | 26 |
| Snowflake Inc. | SNOW | 48% | $249.29 | $292.54 | 17% | 29 |
| Coupang Inc. | CPNG | 29% | $40.02 | $43.71 | 9% | 7 |
| Nio Inc. | NIO | 78% | $44.10 | $57.38 | 30% | 18 |
| BioNTech SE | BNTX | 31% | $236.49 | $186.33 | -21% | 13 |
| DoorDash Inc. | DASH | 40% | $178.98 | $166.79 | -7% | 20 |
| CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. | CRWD | 92% | $256.61 | $256.91 | 0% | 24 |
| Palantir Technologies Inc. | PLTR | 22% | $25.40 | $22.00 | -13% | 9 |
| KE Holdings Inc. | BEKE | 80% | $49.53 | $74.67 | 51% | 15 |
| Pinterest Inc. | PINS | 57% | $73.16 | $83.50 | 14% | 28 |
| Peloton Interactive Inc. | PTON | 79% | $117.17 | $131.72 | 12% | 29 |
| Unity Software Inc. | U | 75% | $110.26 | $122.36 | 11% | 12 |
| Lufax Holding Ltd. | LU | 72% | $12.18 | $17.51 | 44% | 18 |
| UiPath Inc. | PATH | 40% | $69.85 | $77.37 | 11% | 20 |
| Airbnb Inc. | ABNB | 43% | $149.68 | $170.93 | 14% | 35 |
| Genmab A/S | GMAB | 65% | $43.30 | $41.33 | -5% | 26 |
| Cloudflare Inc. | NET | 81% | $102.57 | $96.20 | -6% | 16 |
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
June 24, 2021 11:12 ET (15:12 GMT)
MW The 20 best-performing IPOs of the past three -2-
A hot stock market generally means good times for IPOs, especially for investors whose brokers can help them scoop up the shares at a good price. That can be a tall order on a wild first day of trading.
It's also very important to know what you are buying. Rather than only considering the popularity of a company's product or service, and the media hype, you should read its offering filings to form an opinion about the company's long-term prospects before jumping in.
Don't miss:Amazon is the world's most valuable brand, but Alibaba and Facebook have better financials
-Philip van Doorn; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com
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June 24, 2021 11:12 ET (15:12 GMT)
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