It's a slow year for IPOs. As of mid-May 2001, only 33 companies have gone public. As of press time, six local companies, including WebGain Inc. of Santa Clara, have filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to make an initial public offering. That's since January.
Some companies state their intent to go public but later withdraw filings.
Netgear, an Internet networking company based in Santa Clara, is an example. Silicon Valley's high-technology trend is not reflected nationwide. A third of this year's initial public offerings are energy, oil or gas-related businesses, according to data from IPO Monitor. Verisity CEO Moshe Gavrielov says his company, based in Mountain View, was founded five years ago with that strategy in mind. The software company filed to go public in September and offered its IPO this past March.