A private company can raise capital by selling shares publicly through an initial public offering (IPO). If you choose to invest in an IPO, you get the benefit of picking a potentially underpriced stock early and without brokerages taking stock positions. It is important for IPO investors to track upcoming IPOs in order to capitalize on available opportunities. (See related: IPO Basics Introduction.)

Here are some sources for tracking upcoming IPOs:

  • Exchange Websites: Some of the most reliable sources of information on upcoming IPOs are exchange websites. Each exchange maintains a dedicated section for IPOs. Sourcing information directly from the exchanges is good because you are getting official, reliable and the most accurate information, as well as access to the official IPO prospectuses. Nasdaq has a dedicated section called "Upcoming IPO," while the NYSE maintains an IPO Center section.

The drawback with exchange websites is that you may not get the most recent news for IPOs, as exchanges update their sites only after proper verification. Rumors make their way to the media much earlier than they are confirmed or disproved officially. Another challenge is that a few exchange sites provide information only about the issues to be listed on that particular exchange. Therefore, investors must check different exchange sites to get a sense of all the IPO opportunities.

  • Google News: Markets move on news. Performing a search on Google News (GOOG) with relevant search terms like “IPO” offers some of the most up-to-date news items, including analyst opinions, market commentary, and other developments for any IPO. It offers a single source for all global IPOs, regardless of the exchange or country in which IPO is listed.

What’s more? Once logged in with your Google account credentials, you can create news alerts for the term “IPO” to get all the updated news directly delivered to your mailbox/RSS feed with customizable features.

google alert screenshot
  • Yahoo Finance: The finance portal of Yahoo! (YHOO) offers a dedicated IPO section with details on IPO date, symbol, price, and links to IPO profiles and news items. It also offers performance tracking of past IPOs.
  • IPO Monitor: IPOMonitor.com is a dedicated site that provides IPO specific news for tracking IPOs. Apart from the usual IPO information, it also provides broader market-level statistics under the section “Current IPO Market Dashboard.” It covers details such as the number of IPOs filing, IPO withdrawals, and top performers. Its subscription-based service offers dedicated research reports on IPOs.
  • IPO Scoop: IPOScoop.com offers all information related to upcoming IPOs. In addition, it maintains SCOOP Ratings for the IPOs, which ranks upcoming IPOs for paid subscribers.
  • Renaissance Capital IPO Center: Renaissance maintains a dedicated IPO section that has a weekly calendar view. It also offers other related content such as “Largest US IPOs”, “Largest Global IPOs,” and dedicated sections like “IPO News” and “IPO Poll” for a diversified range of information.
  • Hoovers IPO Calendar: Hoovers maintains an IPO Calendar on its site that includes basic details of IPOs, as well as other useful sections such as IPO Performance, IPO Scorecard, and Best & Worst IPO Returns.

The Bottom Line

Investing through an IPO offers the benefits of taking commission-free stock positions, picking potentially underpriced companies at the start, and potentially profiting from price jumps on listing day and in the mid- to long-term. IPO investors can keep track of upcoming IPOs, overall market sentiment, associated news, and expert opinions by using the above sources.