The global investor sentiment has been anything but positive over the past some weeks.
The war in the Middle East is impacting almost every nation, with investors rushing towards safe havens amid mounting losses and economies facing supply shocks.
Fresh listings amid such conditions come with big risks.
But, even before the latest escalation in the Middle East added to market volatility, recent IPOs were already facing skepticism.
Goldman Sachs has pointed that the investors became too skeptical, too quickly, on two recent IPO names.
Agibank’s bruising debut
Agibank, the São Paulo-based digital lender listed on the NYSE under the ticker AGBK on February 11.
It raised $240 million after selling 20 million shares at $12 each in a sharply reduced deal.
That was a dramatic retreat from its original plan to sell 43.6 million shares at $15 to $18, which meant the company had to cut both valuation expectations and deal size.
The stock’s first day did little to repair sentiment.
AGBK closed at $10.75 in its debut session, down 10.42% from the IPO price and well below even the company’s lowered terms.
The IPO faced skepticism as the investors were already rattled by the nearly 20% post-IPO decline in rival Brazilian fintech PicPay.
That is where Goldman parts ways with the crowd.
While the market treated Agibank’s downsized offering as a warning sign, analyst sentiment on the stock has remained constructive.
Multiple sources show AGBK as a buy-to-strong-buy and average price targets well above current trading levels.
The bull case is that investors have extrapolated one ugly debut into a broader verdict on the business.
Forgent’s data-center pitch
If Agibank is a story about weak reception, Forgent Power Solutions is more about muted enthusiasm.
The company, which makes electrical distribution equipment for data centers, power-grid projects, and industrial facilities, priced its IPO at $27 a share.
The stock has traded around mid $30 levels since its debut, which is not bad, but Goldman clearly believes it still undervalues the company’s role in the AI infrastructure buildout.
Goldman analyst Joe Ritchie maintained a Buy rating on Forgent in March and lifted his price target to $49, the highest target among the major firms.
That is a good margin compared to targets of $44 at Barclays and $45 at TD Cowen. Morgan Stanley has taken a more cautious line with an Equal-Weight rating and a $38 target.
Goldman’s core argument is tied to positioning.
Forgent is described as a “preferred marginal supplier in critical power infrastructure,” a phrase that goes to the heart of the thesis that data-center demand.
The bigger backdrop matters here. Goldman said in February that US IPO proceeds could quadruple to a record $160 billion in 2026 from about $48 billion in 2025.
But the same forecast also came with a warning that valuation risks remain real, especially in sectors where public-market appetite can shift quickly.
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