Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Sunday, Jun 01, 2025

Fund managers waiting out high-profile unicorn IPOs after string of flops

Fund managers waiting out high-profile unicorn IPOs after string of flops

A deep disconnect between private market valuations of companies and the prices their shares fetch on the open market is pushing more mutual fund managers to the sidelines during high profile IPOs, anticipating the newly listed stocks will inevitably fall.

The war over what a company is worth comes as a generation of Silicon Valley darlings exit the insulated world of venture capital, where investors are more focused on a company’s growth and potential, and enter the public markets, where fund managers and analysts put a premium on meeting each quarter’s revenue and profit expectations.

Uber Technologies Inc (UBER.N), for instance, is down about 30% from its May initial public offering price, leaving it with a market cap about $23.1 billion less than its last private market funding round. Peloton Interactive (PTON.O) , meanwhile, is down 22% from its IPO in late September, chopping more than $1 billion off of its market cap.

As a result, fund managers from firms including Osterweis Capital Management, Firsthand Funds and Federated Investors say that they are becoming more cautious about buying companies that have come to market with multi-billion dollar IPOs, so-called unicorns.

“You’re seeing a lot of companies come out with valuations at $8 billion when they really should be $4 billion companies, and the public market is where a lot of the rationality around valuations happens, and it takes the air out of these really well-known unicorns,” said Jim Callinan, portfolio manager of the Osterweis Emerging Opportunities fund.

Callinan is now shifting his strategy to wait until at least after the 180-day lock-up period, following which company insiders are allowed to start selling their shares, before making any positions in a newly public company.

The most attractive price for newly public companies will most likely be at least a year after they go public because large venture capital funds, like Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp’s $100 billion Vision Fund, have distorted private market valuations and let companies focus on building market share rather than outlining a path to profits, he said.

SoftBank was a major investor in WeWork owner The We Company, which pulled its IPO after it failed to get any investor traction at a valuation between $10 billion and $12 billion, a steep drop from the $47 billion valuation it reached in the private market in January.

“You have really big money that’s inflationary, so it’s not until a company has been public for a few quarters that the real valuation can be found,” he said.


IPO SLOWDOWN

Disappointing performances of well-hyped IPOs like SmileDirectClub Inc (SDC.O), which is now down nearly 60% from its initial pricing of $23 in early September, are contributing to a slump in the IPO market overall, said Kathleen Smith, principal at Renaissance Capital, a provider of institutional research and IPO ETFs.

SmileDirect stock continued to tumble despite thumbs up from the banks that led its IPO, with most Wall Street analysts assigning price targets below the IPO price.

The Renaissance IPO ETF (IPO.P), which tracks the performances of newly public companies, is down 12 percentage points over the last 3 months, while the broad S&P 500 index is up nearly 3% over the same time. The ETF fell alnother 1.3% Wednesday.

“Public market investors are boycotting the IPO market because pure and simple they’re not getting the returns they want,” she said. “You’re now getting these very large private companies that had valuations pushed up to ridiculous levels and public investors are pushing back.”

The reticence on the part of public investors to buy into highly valued IPOs will likely start to eat into how private market investors gauge companies, she said. Overall, there were a record 180 private U.S. companies valued at more than $1 billion as of Sept 1, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Private companies have raised approximately $83 billion in venture funding this year, which is on pace to fall below the $117 billion in funding raised last year, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Companies going public have raised approximately $41 billion from public market investors this year, according to data from Renaissance Capital.

“Capital gets sloppy when it’s prolific and a lot of bad ideas get funded,” Smith said, noting that the largest discrepancies in valuations have occurred among well known technology companies while less hyped companies like Beyond Meat Inc (BYND.O) have doubled from their IPO price. “WeWork is so obvious that it was a bad idea, but it could end up that Lyft is a bad idea and SmileDirect is a bad idea.”

Kevin Landis, a portfolio manager at Firsthand Funds who invests in both private and public companies, said that the string of disappointing IPOs will likely continue as private market investors focus more on the search for the next big company than its eventual share price performance.

“It’s a great thought exercise to look at a successful private company and ask if it were public how it would trade. A lot of private investors aren’t thinking that way because they’re trying to expand and not thinking about what this would be if it were a stock,” he said. “They want to find that one great idea where they can declare themselves geniuses for finding it so early.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
European and Arab Ministers Convene in Madrid to Address Gaza Conflict
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Founder Warns Against Trusting Regime in Nuclear Talks
UAE Offers Free ChatGPT Plus Subscriptions to Citizens
Lebanon Initiates Plan to Disarm Palestinian Factions
Iran and U.S. Make Limited Progress in Nuclear Talks
The Daily Debate: The Fall of the Dollar — Strategic Reset or Economic Self-Destruction?
Trump Administration's Tariff Policies and Dollar Strategy Spark Global Economic Debate
OpenAI Acquires Jony Ive’s Startup for $6.5 Billion to Build a Revolutionary “Third Core Device”
Turkey Weighs Citizens in Public as Erdoğan Launches National Slimming Campaign
Saudi-Spanish Business Forum Commences in Riyadh
Saudi Arabia and Spain Sign MoU to Boost SME Sectors
UK Suspends Trade Talks with Israel Amid Gaza Offensive
Iran and U.S. Set for Fifth Round of Nuclear Talks Amid Rising Tensions
Russia Expands Military Presence Near Finland Amid Rising Tensions
Indian Scholar Arrested in Crackdown Over Pakistan Conflict Commentary
Israel Eases Gaza Blockade Amid Internal Dispute Over Military Strategy
President Biden’s announcement of advanced prostate cancer sparked public sympathy—but behind closed doors, Democrats are in panic
A Chinese company made solar tiles that look way nicer than regular panels!
Indian jet shootdown: the all-robot legion behind China’s PL-15E missiles
The Chinese Dragon: The True Winner in the India-Pakistan Clash
Australia's Venomous Creatures Contribute to Life-Saving Antivenom Programme
The Spanish Were Right: Long Working Hours Harm Brain Function
Did Former FBI Director Call for Violence Against Trump? Instagram Post Sparks Uproar
US and UAE Partner to Develop Massive AI Data Center Complex
Apple's $95 Million Siri Settlement: Eligible Users Have Until July 2 to File Claims
US and UAE Reach Preliminary Agreement on Nvidia AI Chip Imports
President Trump and Elon Musk Welcomed by Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim with Cybertruck Convoy
Strong Warning Issued: Do Not Use General Chatbots for Medical, Legal, or Educational Guidance
Saudi Arabia Emerges as Global Tech Magnet with U.S. Backing and Trump’s Visit
This was President's departure from Saudi Arabia. The Crown Prince personally escorted him back to the airport.
NVIDIA and Saudi Arabia Launch Strategic Partnership to Establish AI Centers
Trump Meets Syrian President Ahmad al-Shara in Historic Encounter
Trump takes a blow torch to the neocons and interventionists while speaking to the Saudis
US and Saudi Arabia Sign Landmark Agreements Across Multiple Sectors
Why Saudi Arabia Rolled Out a Purple Carpet for Donald Trump Instead of Red
Elon Musk Joins Trump Meeting in Saudi Arabia
Trump says it would be 'stupid' not to accept gift of Qatari plane
Quantum Computing Threatens Bitcoin Security
Michael Jordan to Serve as Analyst for NBA Games
×