The 2021-2026 tech IPO class tells a story of extremes. During the 2021 SPAC and IPO boom, dozens of companies went public at sky-high valuations fueled by zero interest rates and pandemic-era demand surges. Five years later, the report card is harsh: only 26 of 77 IPOs (34%) trade above their original offer price. The class average is a C at 66 out of 100 points. ARM Holdings leads with a perfect A+ score — up 403% from its $51 IPO price — while companies like Lulu's Fashion Lounge have lost 99% of their value. The grading system evaluates each company on three equally weighted pillars: stock price return versus the IPO offer price (35 points), revenue growth since going public (35 points), and whether the company has achieved profitability (30 points). This approach rewards companies that have built real businesses — strong revenue growers who reached profitability can still earn a B or C even if their stock price declined from an inflated IPO valuation.
ARM Holdings is the top performer with an A+ grade (100/100). ARM IPO'd at $51/share in September 2023 and trades above $256 — a +403% return. It earned perfect scores across price return (35/35), revenue growth (35/35), and profitability (30/30).
26 out of 77 tech IPOs (34%) currently trade above their original IPO offer price. The remaining 66% have destroyed shareholder value since going public. The class average is a C (66/100), reflecting weak price performance offset by revenue growth.
Lulu's Fashion Lounge (LVLU) is the worst performer, down 99% from its IPO price with an F grade (0/100). Other F-grades include Expensify (EXFY, -91%), Bumble (BMBL, -93%), ZipRecruiter (ZIP, -79%), and TaskUs (TASK, -70%).
Each IPO is scored on a 100-point scale: price return vs IPO price (35 points), revenue growth since IPO (35 points), and profitability (30 points). Grades: A+ (90-100), A (80-89), B (70-79), C (60-69), D (50-59), F (below 50).
Semiconductor and AI-related IPOs lead — ARM (A+), Astera Labs (A+), and CoreWeave (A) all scored above 80. Fintech is mixed: Robinhood (A+) and SoFi (A) did well, while consumer internet IPOs like Bumble and ZipRecruiter cluster near the bottom.