Initial public offering: How the biggest IPOs of 2018 have performed

Reuters / Lucas Jackson

It has been a busy year for initial public offering in America. Through the end of September, there have been 173 IPOs, raising $45.7 billion. The value raised in the first three quarters was 46.5% greater than the same period last year, and more than three times that of 2016, according to PwC track of data.

The strong IPO dynamic has been driven by “continual period of very strong market conditions,” PwC deals analyst  David Ethridge told Business Insider on Friday, adding that corporate earnings had their best results ever in the second quarter, with S&P 500 companies earning $38.65 per share, and consumer confidence surging to 18-year high in September. 

“People have had a long period of time to look at the marketing, say this is going to continue and let’s get ready to go public,” Ethridge said.

Breaking down the sectors, year-to-date IPO activity was led by pharma and life sciences — predominately biotech firms, with 55 IPOs raising $6.8 billion. Technology, media, and telecom companies also boomed the IPO markets, with 38 offerings raising $15 billion, according to PwC.

Ethridge noted that international companies have been piling into US markets. In the technology sector, more than half of the 38 IPOs are non-US companies, and 11 of them came from China — despite escalating trade tensions.  This suggests that “globally people are still looking at the US as the place where they can find investors that are willing to pay for grow,” Ethridge said.

Domestically, Elanco Animal Health had the biggest IPO, raising $1.74 billion in August. Greensky was the second largest US IPO this year, raising $1.01 billion. 

And while 2018 has been a banner year for IPOs, PwC expects more to come in the near future. A number of companies looking to go public have sped up the pace of their IPO preparations, with investors beginning to anticipate a slowdown in the global economy as inflation starts creeping higher and the trade war with China intensifies, PwC said.

Here’s a snapshot of how the 16 largest domestic IPOs — all worth at least $500 million — have performed this year.