This week, only one company managed to eke out an offering during what is typically a busy week for new stock deals. IPO analysts see signs that the condition of the IPO market is about as bad as it's going to get. First, an unusually large number of companies have withdrawn plans for IPOs this year. As investors are no longer looking to buy shares of money-losing Internet and tech startups, those companies are forced to take their shares off the market. Second, no particular sector seems to be generating interest from investors.
Internet is definitely out.
Although a few energy firms have taken themselves public this year, the volume of offerings in the industry hasn't come close to approaching the numbers that tech deals launched early last year. A third indicator is that hardly any deals are getting out. February is typically one of the busier months of the year for new stock offerings. This year, it' s about as slow as a Sunday in the Delta. This week was a perfect example of just how uneventful things have gotten.