MW Further evidence of an IPO rebound helps ease worries held by Wall Street dealmakers

By Steve Gelsi

Joint- and muscle-pain specialist Hinge Health and marketing software maker MNTN rally to double-digit percentage gains in a bullish sign for IPOs

Initial public offerings from Hinge Health Inc. and MNTN Inc. delivered double-digit percentage gains after pricing at the top of their estimated ranges on Thursday, as the IPO market continues to gear up after an absence of major deals in recent weeks.

The smaller of the two IPOs, MNTN $(MNTN)$ soared 66% over its IPO price, while Hinge Health $(HNGE)$ popped by about 18%.

The two deals followed the successful debut last week from crypto- and stock-trading firm eToro Group Ltd. (ETOR), which was the first IPO from the financial-technology sector in about four years.

The bottom line for investors is that IPOs may be returning to favor despite a hesitancy by some on Wall Street to launch fresh deals because of economic uncertainty. Despite that uncertainty, the equities market continues in a mostly upward direction, with the S&P 500 index SPX rallying more than 10% over the past month.

This stirring of fresh IPOs could mark the return of a closely watched and often rewarding practice of investing in stocks on the day of their debut or shortly thereafter with the objective of generating outsized returns.

To be sure, the trend for more IPOs remains in its early stages at best and the IPO window could always slam shut again as it did in early April on the heels of President Donald Trump's tariff announcements.

Earlier this week, Doug Petno, co-chief executive of JPMorgan's $(JPM)$ commercial and investment bank, said clients are still putting off key decisions as they await more economic "puzzle pieces" ranging from tariffs to tax policy in Washington.

"Our typical client has their foot on the brake right now," Petno said at JPMorgan's investor day.

There's also no guarantee that future IPOs will have the balance sheets and business success of a CoreWeave $(CRWV)$, Hinge Health, or MNTN, because bankers often move the most appealing deals to the front of the line to whet the appetite of Wall Street, when the IPO market restarts after a break.

Both Hinge Health and MNTN have generated quick revenue growth and laid out growth prospects that make sense to investors. They've also attracted financial backing from some of the savviest private market investors on Wall Street such as BlackRock, Fidelity and venture firm Coatue in a validation of their respective businesses.

In the case of Hinge Health, the company operates a medical device and software business to address muscle and joint pain - a growing problem as people spend more time than ever on computer screens and the U.S. faces an aging demographic.

Marketing software company MNTN offers technology and services to help small- to mid-sized brands distribute their social media and advertising message on streaming TV services such as Amazon Prime Video. This is a growing business as well.

Hinge Health IPO jumps 18% after raising $437 million

Hinge Health's IPO (HNGE) first traded at $39.25 a share, well above its $32 price, and closed at $37.68 a share for a gain of about 18% over its IPO price.

Hinge Health, which makes a device that eases muscle and joint pain as well as software to treat musculoskeletal issues, raised $437 million in its IPO.

The company priced 13.67 million shares at $32 a share, the top of the estimated price range of $28 to $32 a share, with lead underwriters Morgan Stanley, Barclays and BofA Securities.

San Francisco-based Hinge Health reported net income of $17.14 million and revenue of $123.83 million in the three months ended March 31. In the year-ago quarter, it lost $26.5 million on revenue of $82.7 million.

Its list of more than 2,250 clients includes Morgan Stanley, Target, GM, U.S. Foods and Barclays, with about 532,000 members as of Dec. 31.

Financial backers of Hinge Health include some of the more prominent private capital firms, such as Insight, Atomic, 11.2 Capital, Coatue, Tiger Global and Bessemer Venture Partners

Hinge Health was co-founded in 2014 by Chief Executive Daniel Perez, and now has about 1,400 employees.

MNTN's stock rallies more than 50%

MNTN's stock first traded at $21 a share, well above its IPO price of $16 a share, and closed at $26.53.

MNTN, which makes marketing software for streaming services such as Amazon.com Inc. $(AMZN)$, drew in $187 million by offering 11.7 million shares at $16 a share.

The Austin, Texas, company priced its IPO at the top of its $14 to $16 range with lead underwriters Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Evercore ISI.

MNTN reported a first-quarter loss of $21.1 million on revenue of $64.5 million. In the year-ago quarter, it lost $15.7 million on revenue of $43.8 million.

Founded in 2009 by its Chief Executive Mark Douglas, MNTN is positioned to help marketers distribute commercial content to viewers who would rather watch ads than pay more for their streaming media subscriptions.

The company bills itself as the "hardest working software in television" by offering "unrivaled performance and simplicity to Connected TV advertising."

CEO Douglas said about 96% of MNTN's customers have never advertised on TV before. The company's software and services help small and medium sized brands prepare and launch TV campaigns on streaming services.

The company drew a strong reception to its IPO, with about 14 times more buy orders than the number of shares in the offering, he said.

The company has been backed by Baroda Ventures, Mercato Partners, Greycroft and Qualcomm $(QCOM)$ as well as Blackrock.

The two IPOs come just a few days after stock and crypto-trading company eToro Group Ltd. (ETOR) raised $620 million at an IPO price of $52 a share for trading on May 15. The stock closed at $66.48 a share on Wednesday.

With the strong performance from eToro, Hinge Health and MNTN, IPOs are debuting on more solid ground despite continued volatility in the stock market.

Another boost to new issues has come from the performance of CoreWeave (CRWV), the specialist in databases for artificial intelligence, which has soared 150% since its debut. The stock priced at $30 a share on March 28, though it fell 6.7% to $100.16 on Thursday.

After CoreWeave, the IPO market closed down for several weeks when it came to major deals due to the stock-market volatility around U.S. tariff policy.

Also read: Newly issued eToro shares jump in Nasdaq debut. It's a bullish sign for IPOs.

-Steve Gelsi

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May 22, 2025 16:10 ET (20:10 GMT)

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