The list of the top-performing US initial public offerings of 2005 includes some obvious themes, like pharmaceutical development and China.
But the IPOs that turned in the best performances this year weren't all from sexy industries or regions. A maker of railroad freight cars also made the list.
So far this year, nine companies in a wide range of industries that made their US market debuts saw their shares more than double, according to data from Dealogic.
"It is tougher for companies to stand out and to have strong performances" in the face of a lacklustre stock market, said Tom Taulli, an IPO analyst and founder of Newport Beach, California-based DealflowSearch.com. "Investors are more discriminating. They will come to the plate when there's a good deal, but if it's not a good deal, they'll go on strike."
The best performer of the year was also one of the most talked about, Chinese Web search engine Baidu.com Inc, which has gained 171 percent since its IPO. But the stock remains well below its first day gain of 353.9 percent, illustrating the risk of chasing high-profile IPOs.
Several other top performers got off to quieter starts. Rail-car maker FreightCar America Inc, electronic payment technology provider VeriFone Holdings Inc, apparel retailer Citi Trends Inc and medical device maker China Medical Technologies, advanced no more than 12.1 percent in their market debuts but have since more than doubled in value.
"The nice thing is you did not have to buy at the IPO price to make money on those companies," said Taulli, of DealflowSearch.com. "Even if they did go up 10 or 15 percent on the first day you would have made a nice, tidy profit, which is not easy. It wasn't easy this year to make a nice, tidy profit."
Two of the top performers, Citi Trends and Zumiez Inc, were small speciality retailers, which were raising money to pay for expansion and store openings.
"They really use the money to fund expansion rather than repaying debt," said Francis Gaskins, president of IPO Desktop, an independent research firm based in Los Angeles.
That reflects another common theme of many of the most successful IPOs - that they were young companies using their proceeds to fund expansion, rather than mature companies being spun out by private investors. J. Crew Group Inc, a long-established retailer that had planned a 2005 IPO under the latter model, early this month said it would delay its offering until 2006.
J. Crew was not alone in delaying its IPO plans in a tough year, with the total value of US IPOs running 8.6 percent behind last year's pace. This week, tech companies Intralinks Inc and Global Secure Corp postponed their planned offers.
The No 2 performance came from Adams Respiratory Therapeutics Inc, a maker of over-the-counter drugs. Its shares have risen 168.5 percent since their July debut.
The list also includes two Chinese firms, Baidu.com and China Medical.
"Having two China companies there is something worth writing home about," said Gaskins, of IPO Desktop.
"There's a lot going on in China, but there's a lot of companies that come out with a big splash and don't make it," Gaskins said. "Here are two that are doing well."
The list was based on performance of deals that raised $50 million or more, through Thursday's close.
It excludes athletic apparel maker Under Armour Inc, which saw its shares double in their Friday debut.
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