No Bubble in the Offerings

The newly invigorated IPO market may look like a Ferrari, but peek under the hood and it's more like a respectable Toyota.

Although initial public offerings are hitting the market faster than at any time since the bubble collapsed, returns to shareholders aren't even close to the returns of the boom years. The 104 companies that have gone public since June 1 have, on average, posted aftermarket gains of about 24%, a solid but hardly spectacular performance. Some shareholders may be disappointed, but the relative sobriety is a sign of health, and undermines arguments that investors have once again lost discipline.

"It's a very definite contrast to the bubble years -- investors are being careful about new issues," said Silicon Valley stalwart Sandy Robertson, now a partner of Menlo Park, Calif.-based Francisco Partners, a technology-based buyout firm with about $2.6 billion in assets. ...