London Ð NeXT's initial public stock offering (IPO), which had been planned for this year, may slip into 1994. Steve Jobs called a stock offering unlikely before 1994 in a speech here before a gathering of international bankers in December.
Jobs clarified his statement for NeXTWORLD, saying that the IPO will take place in the last half of 1993 or the first six months of 1994.
Several factors affect the timing of an IPO, according to NeXT. The company must amass a series of strong quarterly financial reports. In addition, general investor enthusiasm for IPOs runs in hot and cold cycles, and it is considered worthwhile to postpone an IPO until a favorable cycle, known as a "window," occurs.
Knowledgeable sources inside the investment banking industry have conflicting opinions on the success of a NeXT offering. Many, such as Charles R. Wolf, a vice-president at First Boston, said that NeXT will need to demonstrate strong financial numbers to have a successful offering, and that the stock's valuation will be in direct proportion to those numbers. But other analysts feel the magic of Jobs's name will propel the stock to premium pricing levels almost unrelated to any hard numbers.