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Anatomy of money-losing IPOs

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  • Boucher, Carène
  • Kooli, Maher

Abstract

Money-losing initial public offerings (IPOs) have recently raised an important amount of cash in the U.S. market since the dot-com bubble. In this paper, using a sample of 1505 U.S. IPOs from 1998 to 2018, we investigate how much money-losing issuers could be compared to profitable issuers in terms of motivations for going public, IPO valuation, and post-IPO outcomes. We find that money-losing firms are motivated by the need to finance significant R&D investments and become M&A targets. We also find that they take advantage of favorable market conditions and obtain lower valuations at the time of their IPOs. Innovation and growth opportunities are important factors for their valuation. Further, we document that money-losing firms are characterized by higher underpricing, lower aftermarket liquidity and trading volume, higher aftermarket volatility, long-run underperformance, and more likely to delist for negative reasons in the three years following their going public decision.

Suggested Citation

  • Boucher, Carène & Kooli, Maher, 2022. "Anatomy of money-losing IPOs," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:60:y:2022:i:c:s0275531922000113
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2022.101623
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Initial public offerings; IPOs; Negative earnings; Zero revenue; Money-losing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading

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