Solar firm Nextracker’s shares soar in U.S. debut as IPO market ‘thaws’

Fremont, California-based Nextracker, a unit of Singapore’s Flex Ltd (FLEX.O), saw its stock open at $30.31, above the company’s upsized initial public offering (IPO) price of $24 a share.

“It’s yet another sign that the 2023 IPO market is thawing. So it’s a breath of fresh air,” said Matthew Kennedy, senior IPO market strategist at Renaissance Capital. “But for activity to pick up, we need to see a string of successful listings. Nextracker looks like one of them.”

Since the start of the year, oilfield services firm Atlas Energy, Chinese sensor maker Hesai Group and restaurant chain Cava are among the companies that have filed for U.S. IPOs.

Within the clean energy space, DESRI Inc and REV Renewables Inc are in the pipeline.

Nextracker raised $638 million from 26.6 million shares in its IPO on Wednesday, higher than its original plan of $534.9 million.

Founded in 2013 by Chief Executive Officer Dan Shugar, Nextracker provides solar tracker and software solutions for solar power plants. It was acquired by supply chain and manufacturing solutions provider Flex in 2015.

“One of the merits of being an independent … public company is that there are more options around stock which can help incentivize new talent to the company,” Shugar told Reuters in an interview.

Nextracker’s annual revenue rose to $1.46 billion for fiscal 2022 from $1.20 billion a year earlier, according to a filing.

J.P. Morgan, BofA Securities, Citigroup and Barclays were among the underwriters for the offering.