IPO Stocks Keep Coming So Get Ready For This Predicted Blitz, From

The market for IPO stocks in 2021 will go down in the record books as the hottest on record — and it’s scorching hot.

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The IPO year started with such notables as Roblox hitting the market and will end with names like Rivian firmly entrenched in investors’ radars. In all, roughly 1,000 initial public offerings are expected to hit the market this year, with an array of high-profile names yet to come by Dec. 31.

The 2021 U.S. IPO market already is far ahead of the frantic record pace set last year, according to Renaissance Capital, which manages two IPO-focused exchange traded funds. Barring a major weakening in the overall stock market, IPOs will continue to launch at a steady clip. What can investors expect in the weeks ahead?

Renaissance sees the year ending with 400 traditional IPOs. It also expects 600 Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, or SPACs, to come to market by Dec. 31. Renaissance estimates that these IPOs and SPACs in total will raise a whopping $275 billion in proceeds this year. As of now, there have been 372 IPOs and 535 SPACs, for a total of 907 companies ringing up $266 billion in proceeds.

That’s more than double the 466 IPOs and SPACs in 2020 and more than 60% higher than the funds raised last year. The previous record for IPOs in a single year was 406 in the internet bubble year of 2000. Companies raised roughly $93 billion in proceeds that year.

A spate of high-profile, multibillion-dollar offerings have kept investors focused on the IPO market this year. These include the video game platform Roblox (RBLX). Roblox stock held its IPO in March with a market value around $40 billion.

Do IPO Stocks Of 2021 Signal A Bubble?

And the list of IPOs coming in the final weeks of 2021 is formidable and long. Among them is electric vehicle maker Rivian (RIVN), which started trading Wednesday. Rivian raised $11.9 billion, giving it an initial valuation of roughly $77 billion.

Rivian stock priced at $78 a share, above the previously estimated high-end price of $74. It’s the largest IPO since Alibaba (BABA) raised $25 billion in 2014.

Driving IPO numbers higher are the long-running bull market, as well as historically low interest rates and a flood of liquidity in stocks.

The estimate of 1,000 IPOs assumes a stable stock market as the year winds down. As the stock market goes, so goes the IPO market.

As many observers compare heavy IPO activity this year with that of the dot-com bubble in 2000, the question naturally arises about whether a similar bubble is forming today.

“I don’t think the comparisons to 2000 are appropriate,” Barrett Daniels, who oversees IPO and SPAC prospects for Deloitte, told Investor’s Business Daily. “The businesses today are in much better condition.”

Is IPO Stock Market A Leading Indicator?

Analysts interviewed for this article were skeptical about whether the direction and activity of the IPO market is a leading indicator or signals a top or bottom in the stock market.

“I’m not ready to go…