9 new stocks clobber rich investors, too

Wealthy individuals and big investment firms usually get sweet deals on shares of new stocks. But even these big-time investors are getting burned - badly - on these deals.

Nine initial public offerings during the past 12 months, including digital ad service MaxPoint Interactive (MXPT) and drug makers Zosana Pharma (ZSAN) and Bellerophon Therapeutics (BLPH), have cost investors 70% or more of their money -- even those who were "lucky" and got in early and paid the privileged offer price, according to a USA TODAY analysis of initial public offering data from IPOScoop.com and market data from S&P Capital IQ. Big investors often get the first crack at IPOs at the offering price while regular investors are forced to pay the first-day closing price, which is usually much higher.

Despite this early price advantage, well-heeled investors are getting burned on more than just a few IPOs. The 144 initial public offerings during the past 12 months have dropped an average of 18% from their offering prices. Even a few high-profile IPOs like craft selling marketplace Etsy (ETSY) have been disappointments for big-time investors who got in early. The stock is down 56% from its $16 a share offering price set in April 2015. Shares closed Thursday at $6.99.

It's been a rough market for stocks -- especially shares of newly public companies. The Renaissance IPO Index is down nearly 14% during the past year, trailing the roughly 9% decline by the Standard & Poor's 500.

Well-heeled investors, though, have taken some epic lumps in this ugly IPO market. MaxPoint is the biggest disaster during the past 12 months. The online ad company founded in 2006 sold shares to initial investors at $11.50 in March 2015. Shares have since plummeted 85% to $1.68. MaxPoint is one of the rare examples of IPOs where investors who bought at the first day closing price have actually lost less than the "privileged" investors since the stock fell immediately after it started trading.

As bad as the IPO market has been for the big investors, it's been that much worse for the broad investing public. Regular investors who bought the 144 IPOs over the past year are down an average of 29% on the deals -- or dramatically worse than the 18% average loss suffered by the investors who got in early.

Getting in early has saved the big investors from some staggering losses that have hammered the general public. Take the much-hyped IPO of Square (SQ), a company that allows merchants to process credit card transactions on mobile devices. Investors who got in early paid the offering price of $9 a share and are still up by 11% on the deal as shares are trading for $10.02. But the investors who piled on on the first day paid $13.07 - so they're down 24%.

IPOs are again proving why they're risky bets best left to professionals -- and even they're having trouble in this market.

WORST PERFORMING RECENT IPOS FROM OFFERING PRICE * 

Company, Symbol, % Ch. from offer price

MaxPoint Interactive, MXPT, -85.4%

Zosano Pharma, ZSAN, -82.1%

Bellerophon Therapeutics, BLPH, -79.5%

TerraForm Global, GLBL, -77.3%

Viking Therapeutics, VKTX, -74.1%

HTG Molecular Diagnostics, HTGM, -73.1%

Ritter Pharmaceuticals, RTTR, -72.2%

Eyegate Pharmaceuticals, EYEG, -73%

SteadyMed, STDY, -72.5%

* Based on IPOs the past 12 months

Sources: IPOScoop.com, S&P Capital IQ, USA TODAY