Skip to content
GetProfitable
Search
Dictionary

Quiet period

The window around an offering when the issuer and its underwriters are restricted in what they may say publicly beyond the prospectus.

Before an ipo the company must let the s-1-registration do the talking; promotional statements outside it can be treated as illegal gun-jumping and delay the deal. After the debut, the underwriters' research analysts are barred from publishing for a set number of days.

That second window creates a predictable event. When it lapses, a cluster of buy ratings from the very banks that sold the deal appears on the same morning, which is why analyst-coverage initiations are rarely a surprise in direction, only in price targets.

Example: a company lists on 3 March. Underwriter research is blocked until the quiet period lapses, and on the morning it does, seven of the eight syndicate banks initiate at buy with targets 20% to 45% above the current price.

Related: ipo, analyst-coverage, s-1-registration, underwriter, roadshow

Educational only, not advice. Spotted an error? Post in Site Feedback.