The Worst IPO Of 2014

Now that 2014 is winding down, it’s a good time to look back at some of 2014’s most memorable IPOs. There plenty of IPO winners and losers this year, but only one company can lay claim to the title of worst IPO of 2014.

Worst IPO: Amedica (-88.2%)

Amedica Corporation AMDA earns the dubious distinction of 2014’s worst IPO. Amedica is a medical technology company that specializes in spinal implants. The company holds patents on their Valeo silicon nitride spinal fusion line and is working to add total hip and knee replacement products in the future.

After withdrawing their IPO application back in 2007 because of “market conditions,” Amedica initially lowered its projected IPO price range from $10 to $12 down to $8 to $10.

Related Link: The Top IPO Of 2014

When the company finally went public in February, IPO shares were priced at $5.75, well below any of the previously expected ranges. The stock opened trading at $6.16, but by the end of the first day was down to $5.39.

After surging as high as $9.37 in its first couple of weeks of trading, Amedica stock began to slowly bleed for the remainder of the year. On the heels of a recent SEC filing to issue eight million shares of stock, Amedica was trading at $0.68 at time of writing.

IPO investors are down more than 86 percent.

Runner up: North Atlantic Drilling (-81.8%)

Offshore drilling company North Atlantic Drilling Ltd. NADL could not have picked a worse year than 2014 for its IPO.

North Atlantic’s IPO priced at $9.25 back in January, in the middle of the predicted $8.50-$10.00 range. As late as the beginning of September, shares of North Atlantic were trading above $10, and IPO investors were enjoying positive returns for the year.

However, when the price of crude oil collapsed in the second half of the year, the price of North Atlantic Drilling stock fell even harder.

The stock’s recent price of $1.65 represents an 80 percent loss for IPO investors and early open market buyers.

As these two companies demonstrate, newly-public stocks are typically extremely volatile in the first year of trading and can be very risky bets.