Slim pickings
IPOs are becoming an endangered species.
Good morning.
A braggadocious press release from the ASX on Wednesday gave the impression IPOs were back in fashion, but the numbers don’t really stand up to scrutiny.
“Whichever way you look at it at the moment, there’s not much going on,” HLB Mann Judd partner Simon James told Capital Brief’s Jassmyn Goh.
Australia has averaged 83 IPOs a year over the past two decades, but had only 35 in 2025. Nor were they exactly the cream of the crop: just five of the 14 companies that listed in the first six months of 2026 were still trading above their issue price by July.
| ▼ | ASX 200 | 8,841 | -0.01% |
| ▼ | ASX futures | 8,786 | -0.15% |
| ▼ | S&P 500 | 7,538 | -0.51% |
| ▼ | NASDAQ | 25,882 | -1.47% |
| ▼ | AUD/USD | 0.70 | -0.11% |
| ▼ | Bitcoin | 64,102 | -1.31% |
ASX 200 as at market close. Bitcoin in USD.
Market movers
| ▲ | ASX:AMP | $1.90 | +9.80% |
AMP shares surged after the company lifted its half-year profit guidance to between $170 million and $180 million, largely due to a 25% increase in earnings from its partnerships in China.
