After Forbes unveiled its annual billion-dollar startup list on Sept. 26, 2017, some anxious investors started targeting the Ginkgo Bioworks IPO as their next big profit opportunity.
The list included 25 U.S. companies that could soon reach a $1 billion valuation based on extensive research, and Ginkgo clearly stands out among the crowd.
From what we know from the Forbes report, the biotech firm launched its first commercial products in 2014. It programs cells to produce the enzymes needed to make cheese and yogurt.
Gingko also makes microbes that generate rose oil for the French fragrance firm Robertet Group.
And while the company is just programming cells for food and fragrances now, the technology could have medical applications in the future for the $3 trillion healthcare industry...
This is a speculative theory, but Gingko could take what it's learned from its current tests and eventually figure out how to program cells to fight diseases like cancer.
And so far in 2017, biotech and healthcare IPOs this year have netted some shareholders triple-digit gains...
For example, Beyondspring Inc. (Nasdaq: BYSI) develops cancer therapies and went public on March 9 at $20 a share. The BYSI stock price has already climbed to $35.35 as of this morning (Nov. 1), for a 76.75% gain.
The inflammation-focused company AnaptysBio Inc. (Nasdaq: ANAB) went public on Jan. 26, at $16 per share. Since then, the ANAB stock price has skyrocketed a stunning 313% to today's opening price of $66.14 per share.
In comparison, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up just 16.55%.
But you're going to have to wait to get a piece of Ginkgo stock. Despite the company's impressive technology and lofty potential valuation, it hasn't announced plans for a public offering.