It’s been a wild ride this year for technology stocks. The COVID-19 pandemic has been brutal for old economy sectors such as airlines, retail and tourism. On the flip side, companies offering cloud-based, digital or data services have prospered as companies shifted their operations online. Investors have been fervently pulling money out of neglected sectors and piling them into technology companies which are seen to be not only resilient but also growing despite the crisis. As the pandemic shows no sign of abating, interest has heightened around new technology initial public offerings (IPOs) this year. But should you be excited about these new upstarts? Is there any justification for the hype surrounding so-called “tech” IPOs?

The technology “fever”

But first, let’s take a quick look at a bit of history. 2019 will be remembered as the year where many technology companies first went to market. There’s video-conferencing company Zoom Video Communications (...