ipo-ratinglisted

# IPO rating Rates an issue and answers the question the user actually has — **apply or skip** — with the two halves of that decision separated, because they frequently disagree. ## Start from the asymmetry An IPO is the one transaction where the seller chooses the timing, sets the price, and writes the disclosure. Companies list when sentiment is high, not when the business is cheap. The bankers' job is to leave as little on the table as the market will bear. That does not make every IPO bad. It sets the prior: **the burden of proof is on the issue**, and "the company is good" is not sufficient, because a good company sold at a price that captures all of its value is still a poor purchase. Approach each issue asking what the seller knows that the buyer does not. ## The two decisions people confuse Almost every disappointed IPO investor made one decision while thinking about the other. | | Driven by | Time horizon | | --- | --- | --- | | **Listing gain** | Demand: subscription multiples, anchor quality, grey market, float scarcity, market mood | Days | | **Long-term hold** | Value: business quality, price against listed peers, where the money goes | Years | These regularly point opposite ways. A heavily oversubscribed issue with a big grey market premium can pop on listing and then fall for two years, because the same hype that produced the pop also produced a price no fundamentals support. Deliver both verdicts, and when they disagree, say so plainly — that disagreem