The initial public offering (IPO) of SailPoint on Thursday fell short of expectations for those anticipating a resurgence in tech IPOs.

The stock’s first-day trading ended below its initial price of $23, and although it performed slightly better on Friday, closing at over $24, it failed to deliver the significant boost that companies and venture capitalists had hoped for.

In contrast, the last tech IPO, ServiceTitan, in December, was extremely successful, with its share price soaring from $71 to as high as $105 on the first day and currently trading around $100.

Consecutive successes would have signaled that the long-stalled IPO window was finally reopening.

Instead, retail investors are adopting a cautious approach, rather than exhibiting unbridled enthusiasm.

According to Nick Einhorn, Vice President of Research at Renaissance Capital, an IPO market research firm, “I’m reluctant to draw broad conclusions about the appetite for tech or software IPOs based on this one instance. Although SailPoint has demonstrated good growth, it may not have distinguished itself sufficiently in the cybersecurity landscape to warrant a premium sales multiple.”

Renaissance Capital also offers an IPO exchange-traded fund (ETF), providing investors with exposure to the IPO market.

SailPoint’s IPO was unusual in that it wasn’t a startup; it was previously a publicly traded company until private equity firm Thoma Bravo took it private in 2022, valuing it at $6.9 billion at the time. Thoma Bravo remains the majority owner.

This was a leveraged buyout company going public, rather than a traditional venture-backed startup. Venture-backed startups often possess the kind of growth potential that excites investors, as seen in the case of ServiceTitan.

On a positive note, SailPoint priced its initial 60 million shares at $23, exceeding its previously announced range of $19 to $21. The company raised over $1.3 billion, which will be used to fund operations and pay off approximately $1.5 billion of debt, according to a regulatory filing. SailPoint’s market capitalization now stands at around $13 billion, a significant increase from Thoma Bravo’s purchase price.

SailPoint CEO Mark McClain expressed a more optimistic view, stating, “In our opinion, this was not a disappointing IPO. We went from a midpoint of $20 to a close of $25 on Day 2. We consider it a very successful IPO.”

However, for those looking for signs that the IPO market may be reopening, particularly employees of late-stage startups holding paper stock and stock options, the signals remain unclear.