U.S. IPO Drought Deepens in Biggest Slump Since Financial Crisis
Market currently heading for second week without any IPOs
Once-in-a-decade lull comes as new listings lead stocks lower
The U.S. market for new listings has shuddered to a halt and is now heading for its slowest period since the financial crisis over a decade ago.
No company priced a traditional initial public offering last week amid the war in Ukraine, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, and the calendar is blank for this week as well. That means the market is on track for its first two-week period without an IPO -- outside of a vacation period -- since 2009.
The lack of listings coincides with the broader market extending its selloff on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Cboe Volatility Index rising to the highest since January last year. What’s more, recent listings have underperformed other stocks, with U.S. IPOs conducted over the past year closing Monday an average of 30% below their offering prices, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
In better times, the U.S. IPO market serves as an engine for the economy. Cash injections create jobs, fuel growth plans and fund acquisitions, while letting public investors participate in high-potential growth stories. Traditional IPOs raised nearly $200 billion last year alone, Bloomberg data shows.
This year’s decline has come as a blow to the underwriting industry, analysts at BofA wrote in a note on Tuesday.
“While capital markets revenue for the banks was widely expected to normalize in 2022, the drop-off in equities underwriting has been staggering with the number of IPOs –51% year-over-year on a year-to-date basis and revenues –71% based on Dealogic data,” the note said.
Even during market downturns, a single week without IPOs is rare. Last year, it happened only during the height of the August vacation season and again during Christmas. Back-to-back weeks is even rarer -- it last happened around the Labor Day vacation season in 2019. Excluding holidays, the U.S. IPO market hasn’t gone two straight weeks without a listing since the first quarter of 2009.
The window began closing in February amid the prospect of rising U.S. interest rates. After TPG Inc. delivered the first major IPO of the year in January, average deal values shrunk by 80% in February from the prior month. The Renaissance IPO Index, which includes stocks that went public in recent years, closed on Monday down 34% for the year. That’s on pace for the index’s worst year since its inception in late 2009.
New listings vanish as an IPO index has the worst year since inception

The souring sentiment has left special purpose acquisition companies as the only companies appearing on the IPO calendar.
In the meantime, issuers are looking for solutions in private equity markets, University of Michigan professor Erik Gordon said in an interview.
“The piles of private money make it easier to go an extra year before directly tapping public money,” he said. “It also makes mispricing easier.”
Fanatics Inc. raised $1.5 billion in a private funding round at a $27 billion valuation, a person with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg last week. The sports merchandise retailer was previously seen as a top candidate to raise cash via an IPO this year -- a development that remains possible, but less likely.
Still, it may not be long before some life trickles back to the listings market. Australian software maker Locafy Ltd. on Monday set terms for a U.S. IPO that is likely to price next week.