How Do I Perform an IPO Analysis?

Performing an IPO analysis can be difficult because since the stock from an initial public offering has never been issued before, there is no way of knowing at what price the stock will eventually trade. For that reason, analysts must closely inspect every viable piece of information they have on the offering company. An IPO analysis should be centered on how the company stacks up against its competition, as well as the track record of its management. In addition, the company should be compared to similar companies within the market for an idea of how other traders will react.

Even with well-established stocks, it can be difficult for investors to project which way their prices are going to go. For a stock issued in an initial public offering, which occurs whenever a private company joins a stock exchange to be publicly traded, this process can be extremely challenging. Investors need to parse every bit of information at their disposal to remove as much of the guessing as they can and make their IPO analysis as accurate as possible.

While many companies involved in an IPO have limited track records for investors to study, the market itself which their products will inhabit is a good place to start an IPO analysis. If, for example, a company is opening a new nationwide chain of pasta restaurants into a market already saturated with such establishments, there is a good chance that company will fail to make its mark. Investors may also wish to study the past initial stock issues of companies within the same industry as the one offering the IPO to see how the market reacted.

Management style and business strategy are crucial components of any successful company, so a detailed IPO analysis should take the time to judge these characteristics. If the management team of a new company has proven the ability to get businesses off the ground in the past, the company may have a fighting chance in even a competitive industry. Investors should also decide whether a company's marketing tactics and future plans will serve them well.

In some cases, a company involved in an initial public offering may have been doing business for a while before the offering. Investors can use financial reports from companies such as this to see how well they stack up with their competitors. On many occasions, companies that offer IPO's see an initial surge in stock price due to increased demand for the stock. Savvy investors should realize this fact when performing an IPO analysis, because that initial surge may not be indicative of how the stock will trade once that demand is met.