Monday.com IPO Just a Primer For a Blazing Hot Summer IPO Season

After Monday.com hit the Nasdaq at a $6.8 billion valuation on Thursday, it became the most lucrative initial public offering in history by an Israeli company.

But the record-setting debut by the Tel Aviv-based software maker, which raised $574 million, was little more than a taste of what is shaping up to be an historic summer for the IPO market.

Hot Weather, Hot Issues

Just when it seemed like it was finally time to hit the beach and reach for a mojito, a series of hotly anticipated IPOs are slated for July. And fund managers, venture capitalists, bankers, and lawyers may have to press pause on their summer vacation plans:

• Wall Street analysts estimate June through August could see more than $40 billion raised through IPOs. That would easily top the current $32 billion record for the period, which was set way back in… you guessed it, the summer of 2020.
• China’s ride-hailing king Didi Chuxing is set for a valuation over $70 billion at its IPO. Robinhood, the trading app at the center of the meme-stock explosion, is eyeing $40 billion or more. And car-battery company Clarios is aiming for $20 billion.

SPAC Season Over? While SPACs have had their own record run, raising $100 billion this year, the impending IPO blitz is likely a result of SPAC activity falling over 80% in recent months. As blank-check company mergers have sputtered, shares of firms that went the traditional IPO route this year are up 7% on average, after being up only 2% a month ago.

Holiday Cut Short: Labour Day won’t offer much of a reprieve. Analysts expect the IPO market to stay hot well into September, when grocery delivery giant Instacart is plotting its debut.