SURF’S DOWN. Alphawave IP’s (AWE.L) overpriced IPO is leaving investors washed up. Shares in the Canadian chip designer fell 19% on their debut on Thursday morning to 332 pence, a wipeout compared to their 410 pence offer price. That had given it a putative market value of $4.3 billion. Embarrassingly, it now trades below the lower end of the price range indicated by bookrunner JPMorgan. Solely blaming an inflation-induced tech selloff won’t wash either. Shares in recently listed cybersecurity firm Darktrace (DARK.L) jumped 5% on Thursday. And unlike fellow IPO flop Deliveroo (ROO.L), whose attempts to position itself as a state-of-the-art kebab-delivery disruptor stretched credulity, Alphawave’s cutting-edge semiconductors should be selling well given the global chip shortage. Instead, investors appear to have been put off by a foamy valuation. Even after Thursday’s fall, Alphawave trades at 24 times estimated 2023 EBITDA including net cash, according to a Breakingviews calculation, a premium to U.S. rival Synopsys (SNPS.O). There may more rough water ahead. (By Christopher Thompson) On Twitter http://twitter.com/breakingviews Earlier in Capital Calls: Burberry upsets with dowdy outlook read more China schools its private tuition companies read more Tata Power is charging up its renewables play read more Bird takes flight read more Amazon EU tax win belongs to the past read more