Millennial Media Headlines Busy IPO Week

Growth Stocks Markets
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In a week when 10 IPOs are scheduled to price, Millennial Media is receiving most of the hype.

Millennial Media is the second-largest mobile advertising platform that competes with the likes of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG). The company priced at the midpoint of its range today, at $10 a share. It will begin public trading tomorrow on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MM.

Millennial Media is generating a lot of buzz because of its strong presence in the mobile device realm. Most people who own a smartphone or electronic tablet are familiar with Millennial Media. The fact that it competes head to head with some of the biggest names in technology hasn’t hurt its reputation either.

So investors are also aware of Millennial Media’s upcoming IPO, seeing it as a way to invest in the lucrative mobile advertising business. The Baltimore-based company is second in the $630 million mobile display advertising market with a 17% share, ahead of Apple and trailing only Google.

But Millennial Media is only the highest profile IPO in a week that’s chock full of them. Three IPOs – Annie’s (NYSE: BNNY), Regional Management (NYSE: RM) and Vocera Communications (NYSE: VCRA) – already debuted yesterday. Seven more are scheduled to price later this week, including Millennial Media.

Assuming those IPOs don’t pull a BATS Global, the 10 this week would bring the IPO total for March to 21. That would make it the busiest month for initial public offerings in the post-recession era. The 26 IPOs that debuted in November 2007 was the last time any month topped 21.

There hasn’t been a March with as many as 21 IPOs in at least a decade. The most March IPOs in the last 10 years was the 17 that debuted in 2007.

 

Coming off a February in which 18 stocks went public, the IPO market has already reached its highest two-month total (32) since 37 IPOs debuted last April and May. If the IPO number does reach 21 this month, the 39 IPOs in two months would be the best run for new stocks since 40 debuted in November and December of 2010.  

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