Factors affecting stock returns in bursa Malaysia: a study of IPO stocks listed in 2023 / Muhammad Khairul Haziq Othman

IPO shares have attracted the interest of investors as one of the instruments that have the potential to provide lucrative returns. However, retail investors' behaviors, such as following the herd, and making decisions based on emotions, lack of financial literacy and understanding of investment strategies increases can lead to losses. Therefore, this study was conducted to give an overview about matters that can be observed to make a better decision and help investor determine factors that have the potential to impact the performance of IPO shares on the first day of listing. This study is a quantitative study and the data used is secondary data obtained from company prospectuses that have been provided in the Bursa Malaysia website. A total of 31 samples were selected for analysis. To obtain the results of the study, a descriptive comparative analysis was used using SPSS. The results of the study will show whether factors such as business background, share issuance and utilization of the fund gained from IPO provide a significant return on the company's share price during first listing in the stock market. This study found that companies from the technology sectors, listed on the Ace Market and priced below RM 0.40, provided the highest estimated returns in 2023. Other characteristics that can observes include small-cap stocks, minimal or no private placement allocations to Bumiputera investors, and companies with R&D plans and a focus on branding and digitalization. The findings of this study provide valuable input to retail investors to consider the characteristics that need to be paid attention to before making a decision to invest in the company's shares.