Dive Brief:
- Global initial public offering proceeds surged in the first nine months of 2026 even as the number of companies going public declined slightly, reflecting a market increasingly driven by larger transactions, according to an EY analysis.
- Companies raised about $290 billion through IPOs worldwide from January through September, up about 154% from $114 billion in the same period last year, according to EY’s third-quarter Global IPO Trends report, published earlier this month. The number of IPOs fell about 2% to 908 from 922 a year earlier. SpaceX’s record-setting public debut in June was part of the surge in proceeds.
- “Public company readiness efforts have remained active, even as the IPO market backdrop has grown more complex and a number of deals were withdrawn toward the end of the quarter,” Mark Schwartz, EY Americas IPO and SPAC Advisory Leader, said in the report.
Dive Insight:
The global IPO market continued to demonstrate resilience in the third quarter, sustaining activity despite geopolitical uncertainty, higher energy prices and rising interest rates, EY said.
Broader participation from technology, biotech and consumer companies, along with investor demand and strong post-IPO performance, supported issuance across regions.
Artificial intelligence-related businesses and infrastructure companies helped sustain activity, alongside biotechnology and selected consumer and retail issuers. However, concerns about AI safety and the pace of investment emerged as additional considerations for investors toward the end of the quarter, EY said.
The largest IPOs of the first nine months of the year included those from SpaceX, which raised a total of over $85 billion in June, and South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix, which raised $26.5 billion through its U.S. listing in July.
Other major offerings included AI hardware maker Cerebras Systems, which raised $5.55 billion in May, industrial technology company INNIO, which raised $2.43 billion in June, and geothermal energy developer Fervo Energy, which raised $1.89 billion in May.
Meanwhile, Anthropic could be the last major AI company to go public in 2026, after OpenAI ruled out a market debut this year and other companies postponed planned offerings, according to CNBC. Some investors have lowered their expectations for Anthropic’s valuation as its revenue growth slows, raising questions about how much the company could be worth in an IPO, Reuters reported last week. Its debut could offer a gauge of investor appetite for AI companies as the IPO market heads into 2027.
EY said the global IPO market sustained activity in the third quarter despite economic and geopolitical conditions that might have slowed new listings in earlier cycles, suggesting the current recovery could have further room to run.
Within the Americas region, companies raised $167 billion through IPOs from January through September, up about 391% from $34 billion in the same period last year. The number of offerings in the region fell about 35% to 120 from 186 a year earlier, showing how a smaller number of larger offerings can drive a surge in aggregate fundraising.
Still, inflation, interest rates and uncertainty surrounding November’s U.S. midterm elections complicate the outlook, EY said. Some companies accelerated their IPO plans to avoid potential market disruption, while other offerings were withdrawn toward the end of the quarter.
“Potential issuers are digesting the interest rate and election scenarios as they are preparing for windows of opportunity to launch offerings,” Schwartz said.
