Best Stock Market IPO 12-Month Performance, Current Base Consolidations

All stocks begin with with public offerings of some type. Some, such as Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), begin with initial public offerings (IPO), as explained by Investopedia. Others, such as the current PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL), begin their existence by being spun-off, as PayPal was by eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) in July, 2015, as reported by the Inquisitr.

In the first quarter of 2015, 48 IPOs entered the stock market, as reported by Renaissance Capital. In the first quarter of 2016, only 24 new issues began trading; a reduction of exactly 50 percent. A perception of tighter monetary policy and a 10-percent early 2016 stock market sell-off, as reported by the Inquisitr, likely did not help demand for new IPO issues.

The number and performance of recent IPO issues are seen by some as an indicator of underlying speculative sentiment on the part of participants. Strong bull markets and strong IPO markets go hand-in-hand.

As has been previously noted by the Inquisitr, all of the best stocks, in companies from Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) to Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL), with shares trading publicly, first brought stocks to the market in the form of offerings, the prices of which then proceeded to consolidate, form bases, break out, and continually trade to new highs for years.

Stock in Facebook was priced near $36 when it traded above the then-high of its approximately 15-month long IPO base in mid-2013. The market for FB stock closed at $114.10 yesterday.

Top-performing IPOs of the past 12 months, as reported by Yahoo Finance, include Alarm.com Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ALRM), which has gained 69.9 percent; Square, which has gained 66.9 percent; National Storage Affiliates Trust (NYSE: NSA), which has gained 65.5 percent; Duluth Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTH), which has gained 61.8 percent; and Penumbra Inc. (NYSE: PEN), which has gained 50.8 percent.

Stock in Square, for example, closed at $15.21 today, 2.9 percent above the high of its IPO base consolidation, printed on its first day of trading in November 2015.

Shares of Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: OLLI), which has returned 10.8 percent since coming public in July 2015, currently sits 1.9 percent above the high of their IPO base, set, like Square, on the first day of trading following the company’s IPO, $22.99.

A number of other new stocks trade within the upper ranges of their IPO consolidations.

One firm already mentioned, PayPal, currently sits 9.3 percent below the resistance of its IPO base, $42.55. Analyst consensus estimates have remained steady for PayPal over the past 90 days. The company is expected to report first quarter 2016 earnings on April 27.

Amplify Snack Brands, Inc. (NYSE: BETR) closed yesterday at $14.32, 13.5 percent below the high of its IPO consolidation, reached on its third day of trading in August 2015. Amplify has strong sales and profit growth. The company’s last reported financials appear to be from September 30, 2015, when they reported a debt to equity ratio of 1,985.5 percent, as well as holding a total of $205.1 million in debt and $6.9 million in cash. Zacks has recently discussed why they believe BETR shares may be a candidate for “momentum” investors, as reported by Yahoo Finance.

Blue Buffalo Pet Products, Inc. (NASDAQ: BUFF) currently trades 10.9 percent below its IPO base resistance of $28.80 witnessed on August 4, 2015, in the days following the stock’s pricing. Blue Buffalo traded as low as $15.19 in early February. Institutional holders of the pet products company include FMR LLC and The Vanguard Group.

Stock in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE: HLI) sits 6.9 percent below its highest price, $26.75, seen on December 31, 2015. Houlihan Lokey reports both growing sales and profits. The financial services company has a market capitalization of $1.6 billion and reported an operating margin of 18.0 percent at the end of 2015.

Performance Food Group Company (NYSE: PFGC) shares closed yesterday at $23.35, 8.3 percent below the high of their IPO base, observed on February 3. Performance Food Group reported $1.3 billion in debt at the end of 2015, giving the company a debt to equity ratio of 167.1 percent, as well as growth on both its top and bottom lines.

Credit scoring and information company TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) stock currently trades 1.7 percent below its all-time high of $28.08 from December 24, 2015. Wall Street analysts have increased their full-year 2016 and 2017 EPS estimates for TRU shares over the past 90 days, and the company is growing both its sales and earnings. TransUnion reported a debt to equity ratio of 161.2 percent at the close of its 2015 financial year. The firm has the largest stock market capitalization among those featured at $5.04 billion and was founded in 1968.

[Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images]