In a sign of a possible market recovery, initial public offerings have raised $27.3 billion during the first nine months of this year, 40% more than the same period in 2023 but well below levels early this decade, according to EY.

The payoff for companies that turned to the IPO market during the period exceeded returns on benchmark stock indexes, yielding average gains of 23.9% compared with increases ranging from 10.4% to 18.1% in the S&P 500 Index, the NASDAQ and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, EY said. READ MORE