By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 22nd, 2024
The GE Healthcare IPO is one of the most anticipated public offerings. It will also be the 2020’s largest one as it is expected to overtake the Airbnb IPO. Generally, the IPO market is said to be rather interesting to observe this year.
The initial public offering (IPO) market for 2020 is widely-anticipated in the finance industry. This is because more than a few companies last year, expressed intentions to go public sometime this year. While last year was a somewhat disappointing year for IPOs, 2020 is expected to be better. Top of the list is the GE Healthcare IPO and that of Airbnb as well.
GE Healthcare IPO 2020
American multinational healthcare manufacturing conglomerate GE Healthcare will go for an IPO this year. The public offering has a valuation of $60 billion and according to estimates, it will be the largest IPO for 2020.
There are many expectations for the GE Healthcare IPO. However, the company is yet to reveal any serious details. There is no confirmed timeline for when the IPO will take place and also no idea how much shares will be priced.
Airbnb IPO 2020
The Airbnb IPO is also one of 2020’s most anticipated public offerings. But even as anticipated as it is, it is still nowhere near GE Healthcare. At $60 billion, GE Healthcare is double the size of Airbnb. What it loses in valuation in this case, it more than makes up for it with the fact that it is a trailblazer in the hospitality industry.
Reports have it that while the company has been pulling in amazing numbers since it was floated in 2008, things began to change when it started spending more on marketing. On some level, it is difficult to control a business’s marketing budget. This is because it’s almost impossible to keep the budget down as the company grows. This is probably what is informing the company’s decision to go public.
Regardless, these companies might have a big battle to fight as investors might not ignore the state of 2019’s IPO market.
2019 IPO Market
Speaking to CNBC, Renaissance Capital’s Kathleen Smith describes the different views of the year for investors and buyers. According to her:
“[2019] was a mediocre year for companies that thought they could go public at premium valuations, but it was a good year for investors who bought IPOs.”
First of all, there were more IPOs in 2018 than in 2019. Public offerings in 2019 totaled 139, falling from the 192 total 2018 had.
Secondly, two of the most-anticipated IPOs were Lyft and Uber. The two on-demand ride-sharing companies went public in the first half of last year but ended up struggling throughout the year, disappointing investors. Investors will probably not forget that anytime soon.
A notable mention for 2019 is WeWork. Even though the IPO didn’t happen, the WeWork situation was so problematic that it ultimately soured investors’ appetites.
2020 IPO Market
The good news is that even though it’s still January, there’s some improvement. Both Uber and Lyft are already up 26% and 12% year-to-date (YTD). In addition to this, the Renaissance Capital IPO ETF, an ETF that comprises the 60 most recent IPOs, is currently at a record high. Already, it has skyrocketed past the S&P 500 at 9% to 3%.
Generally, it would make some sense for investors to be reluctant. However, if we predict the rest of the year with January’s performance so far, then investors are in for a treat.
Other expected IPOs this year include food delivery company DoorDash, online repository manager GitLab and the Robinhood investment platform. In addition to these, there are also unconfirmed rumours of a possible SpaceX IPO.