Financial Markets & Risk Dynamics

July 23, 2026

IPOs Have Been a Losing Bet Since 2019

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Torsten Slok

Partner, Chief Economist

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The chart below shows that IPOs since 2019 have underperformed the broader market over the following three years, driven by three main forces:

1) Peak valuations: The 2020–2021 wave came public at rich multiples amid zero rates, stimulus and speculative retail demand, leaving little room for gains.

2) A hostile rate regime: The Fed's hiking cycle from 2022 compressed valuations and hit the long-duration, unprofitable growth stocks that dominate IPO cohorts hardest.

3) Low quality, high bar: The boom pushed marginal companies public before they were ready while the market-adjusted benchmark was set against an index carried by a handful of mega-cap winners.

Each of these forces could persist: valuations may re-inflate in the next IPO window, rates look set to stay structurally higher than the 2010s and index returns remain concentrated in a few mega-caps that keep the relative bar high.

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