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By Stephen Gandel

NEW YORK, June 17 (Reuters Breakingviews) - A recent triple-C run of public-market debuts has won an A grade from investors. Alliterative initial public offerings from CoreWeave CRWV.O, Circle Internet Group CRCL.N and Chime Financial CHYM.O all led to stunning share-price gains. It’s a glimmer of hope after a long downturn in new listings. Yet only $12 billion has been raised in first-time offerings this year, down even from the $14 billion raised in 2024’s uninspiring first six months. With so few deals, over-eager investors may well be grading on a curve.

When there are few new stock-exchange entrants, especially those involved in the hottest trends of the day, it should be easy to catch the attention of investors with the inclination – or a mandate – to hop in on debuts. Indeed, there are signs that such shiny-object syndrome has taken hold. Take Chime, a rising competitor in the buzzing financial technology space. Following its IPO, shares rose 37% above their offering price. On the same day, the on-trend debutantes that preceded it – cryptocurrency issuer Circle and space defense firm Voyager Technologies VOYG.N – fell 10% and 19%, respectively. In sum, they lost $3.1 billion in value as Chime gained $3.6 billion, on a day when the overall market was up.

Circle saw a similar phenomenon, rising nearly 170% on its first trading day, or $11.6 billion. At the same time, CoreWeave, which provides computing power for artificial intelligence giants, saw its value fall $10 billion.

There are plenty of reasons why money might chase around, from hedge funds who angle to quickly flip early stakes through to retail investors eager to hop aboard the latest rocket-ship. With new IPOs running at such a meager pace, these momentum-chasers have few names on which to focus.

To be fair, all of these stocks remain strongly above their offering prices, and the companies behind them offer decent stories tied to big themes. Circle should benefit from new legislation and a more crypto-friendly White House. CoreWeave taps into AI’s vast hunger for computing power. Yet the ebullience seems out of whack with their financial results. At $150, Circle’s shares now trade at over 190 times last year’s earnings.

The question remains whether the companies lining up behind this group - like crypto firms Gemini and Bullish, or Blackstone-owned Spanish casino operator Cirsa Enterprises – will be as lucky. As class sizes expand, investors can be pickier. The likelihood is that, in future, only star students will stand out.

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CONTEXT NEWS

Shares of financial technology provider Chime Financial rose 37% on their first day of trading on June 12. There have been 32 initial public offerings on U.S. exchanges year-to-date in 2025, down from 46 in the first half of last year.

(Editing by Jonathan Guilford; Production by Pranav Kiran)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on GANDEL/ stephen.gandel@thomsonreuters.com))