Several IPOs Put on Hold Amid Volatility

Many companies that had hoped to float new stock offerings are pulling their deals from the calendar, amid Wall Street’s wild volatility.

Just a handful of companies is slated to price offerings and begin trading this week. The following weeks appear to be just as barren as underwriters refuse to pin a firm date next to many IPOs, fearful of continued market swings.

The rally that began in the beaten-down Nasdaq Stock Market last Wednesday morning continued through Friday, leaving the Nasdaq composite index at 3,483.14, up 5% for the week--the first weekly advance since late-August.

But many investors remain skittish, notes Corey Ostman, chief technology officer at Alert-IPO.com. “Naturally when they are skittish, IPOs are way too risky for them.”

Twenty-eight companies have priced their IPOs in October so far, versus about 66 in October 1999, according to Alert-IPO.com. And 27 IPOs were completed last month, compared with 48 in September 1999.

Still, some companies that have braved the market have shined. Among California companies, Calabasas-based Ixia Inc. went public at $13 a share last Tuesday and rocketed to close at $20 on its first trading day. By Friday, the stock (ticker symbol: XXIA) was at $30.75.

The company, which makes systems that let customers measure the performance of their data communications equipment and networks, is already profitable--a big draw for nervous IPO investors.

Ixia had a net income of $2.3 million on net revenue of $28.3 million in the six months ended June 30.

Endwave Corp. also braved last week’s market. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based maker of equipment for wireless telecom systems sold shares at $14 last Monday. The stock (ENWV) ended the week at $16.88.

Among planned deals, Transmeta Corp. will be closely watched. The company, which makes low-power microprocessors for portable computers, is in heated competition with giant Intel Corp. in that market.

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Reuters was used in compiling this report.