Companies grew more confident about initial public offerings in 2023, raising recovery hopes
The IPO market limped ahead in 2023 and analysts expect a steadier recovery ahead
NEW YORK — The signs of life shown by the IPO market, especially in the second half of the year, are giving analysts hope that more companies will be enticed to go public in 2024.
Overall, 108 initial public offerings raised proceeds of about $19.4 billion in 2023, according to Renaissance Capital. That’s up from a dismal 71 IPOs for proceeds of $7.7 billion in 2022, when high inflation and rising interest rates discouraged companies from hitting the market.
This year’s big IPOs included healthcare products company Kenvue in May, U.K. chip designer Arm Holdings in September and footwear company Birkenstock in October. They accounted for over half of the total IPO proceeds, according to Renaissance Capital. Instacart also had a splashy IPO in late summer.
A post-pandemic surge for IPOs was stifled by the highest inflation in four decades in 2022, raising concerns about the economy buckling under the pressure. The Federal Reserve then embarked on a historic round of rate hikes to tame inflation, which made borrowing more expensive and increased caution in the IPO market.
The Fed's preferred measure of inflation, the monthly personal consumption and expenditures report, has cooled to a pace of 2.6% from a high of 7.1% in the middle of 2022. Other measures of inflation, such as the consumer price index, reached a peak of 9.1% in 2022.
The central bank fought inflation by raising its benchmark rate from near zero to a range of 5.25% to 5.50%. The Fed has held that range steady for several months and has signaled that it could start cutting rates in 2024. Wall Street is betting that could happen early in the year.
Cooling inflation and falling
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