IPO Wrap: This wheelchair stock was the top US IPO in 2023 with a 30x gain

Best and worst US IPOs for 2023
Jin Medical up by 3,000pc+, while battery tech U Power lost -90pc
We look at the upcoming IPOs on the ASX

Best US IPOS in 2023

Quick flashback, there were 154 IPOs in the US in 2023.

And here were the top 10 performers:

In a top 10 list dominated by healthcare stocks, Jin Medical emerged as by far the best performing US IPO in 2023, with a return of over 3,000% or 30x.

With a market cap of just over US$2 billion, Jin Medical is a holding company based in the Cayman Islands that owns a bunch of Chinese manufacturers of wheelchairs. The stock made its debut on the Nasdaq in March last year.

Interestingly, Jin Medical has received a letter from the Nasdaq in September, stating that it will get delisted as it wasn’t in compliance with Listing Rule 5550(a)(3), which requires companies to have at least 300 public shareholders for continued listing.

Following back and forth communication between Jin and the Nasdaq, it was revealed that on December 20th, Jin received a letter from Nasdaq indicating that the delisting action has been stayed, pending a hearing on March 14th.

Another top-performer in 2023 was RayzeBio, a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical therapeutics company focusing on “small molecule medicines”.

In December, Bristol-Myers Squibb struck a US$4.1 billion deal to buy RayzeBio, betting on the biotech’s cancer drug program.

US IPOs that bombed in 2023

The 10 worst performing IPO stocks have lost more than 90% of their value since listing.

Chinese EV battery company, U Power, suffered the biggest loss since listing after having risen by +1,100% at one point.

The company operates out of a single manufacturing factory in Zibo City, China, and has said that it wants to become a major player in the electric vehicle (EV) market with its proprietary battery-swapping technology.

Battery swapping or switching is a technology that allows battery EVs to quickly exchange a discharged battery pack for a fully charged new one, as an alternative to recharging the vehicle via a charging station.

“Batteries degrade over time and the idea of pulling in to have a randomly selected one added to your vehicle strikes us as an idea that just isn’t going to work out in that real world,” said a report by the Tribune.

And now…

Here’s how the 2024 ASX IPOs performed

Code	Name	IPO Price	Current Price	Return	Market cap	Listing date
KM1	Kali Metals	0.25	0.42	68%	$32,400,000	8/1/2024
I88	Infini Resources	0.20	0.30	50%	$10,800,000	15/1/2024

There has been two ASX listings in 2024 – Kali Metals (ASX:KM1) and Infini Resources (ASX:I88).

Kali is backed by none other than MinRes boss Chris Ellison, among other deep-pocketed notables.

Kali’s 3,854km2 portfolio of lithium projects within its WA tenure is located adjacent to some of the world’s largest hard rock (spodumene) mines, plants, and deposits.

Results from preliminary exploration programs have identified lithium-bearing pegmatites across multiple locations with the Higginsville Lithium District, while assays from rock chip samples from the Spargoville Project returned results up to 3.69% Li2O.

Meanwhile, Infini Resources (ASX:I88) announced this week that its drone magnetic survey, MMI soil sampling, desktop geological studies and review of historical data have delivered multiple lithium exploration target areas.

Three major greenstone target corridors of interest measuring ~6km, ~6km and ~5km in length were identified at Paterson Lake Lithium Project. In addition, seven large lithium geochemical anomalies were identified in MMI soil sampling results.

Focused on lithium and uranium exploration, I88 has a total of eight projects including a mix of brownfield and greenfield assets in Canada and Western Australia.

Upcoming ASX IPO listings

All dates are sourced from the ASX website. They could change without notice.

Metals Acquisition (ASX:MAC)

Expected listing: February 20, 2024
IPO:$6 million at 20 cents/share

MAC is focused on operating and acquiring metals and mining businesses in high quality, stable jurisdictions that are critical in the electrification and decarbonisation of the global economy.

The company completed its first acquisition with the purchase of the CSA copper mine in Australia from Glencore PLC in June 2023.

The CSA Mine is located in Cobar in regional NSW, and is one of Australia’s highest grade copper mines. CSA Mine produces about 40,000 tonnes of copper each year.

In addition to the current operations, MAC also holds 566 square kilometres of tenements with the potential to expand and extend CSA’s future mine life.

Metals Acquisition is primarily listed on the NYSE under the ticker MTAL, and is now seeking a secondary listing on the ASX with CDI (CHESS depository interests) securities.

Golden Globe Resources (ASX:GGR)

Expected listing: February 26, 2024
IPO:$6 million at 20 cents/share

The gold explorer with projects in Queensland, WA and NSW was down to list on the local bourse in October 2023.

In the last four years, the company says it has acquired four projects with high prospectivity including Dooloo Creek and Alma in Queensland, Crossways in Western Australia, and Neila Creek in NSW.

GGR says each of these projects offers substantial opportunities for gold resources, including high-grade copper. The explorer has conducted extensive drilling and sampling at Dooloo Creek, yielding impressive results over the past two years.

There are plans for further drilling across all GGR projects, with an immediate focus on Neila Creek and ongoing efforts at Dooloo Creek.

K S Capital is lead manager of the float.