The US Tech IPO Market Reopens in 2026, and SpaceX Just Set the Record

The US technology IPO market has reopened in force in 2026, ending the longest new-listings drought since the financial crisis. The clearest signal came on June 11, when SpaceX raised about $75 billion in the largest initial public offering on record, selling 555.6 million shares at $135 each for a valuation near $1.77 trillion, according to NPR and NBC News. That single deal was roughly three times larger than the previous record holder. It capped a first half in which US issuers raised $34.2 billion through May 31, up 163.9% from a year earlier, Renaissance Capital data show. After three years in which founders, bankers, and late-stage investors waited out volatile markets, the window is open, and the biggest names in technology are climbing through it.

How big the 2026 pipeline really is

The scale of what is queued up dwarfs anything in recent memory. Renaissance Capital counted 22 traditional IPOs raising more than $9.4 billion through March 31, the strongest first quarter in five years. By mid-June the running total had passed 70 deals for the year. What makes 2026 different is not just the count but the size of the marquee names still waiting in line.

SpaceX has already gone. Behind it sit two artificial intelligence labs that could each rival it. OpenAI confidentially filed its S-1 with the SEC on May 22, targeting a fourth-quarter listing at a valuation between $852 billion and $1 trillion, Seeking Alpha reported. Days later, Anthropic confidentially filed its own paperwork, Fortune reported, after raising $65 billion in a round that valued it at $965 billion. The combined potential demand from just a handful of these AI and AI-adjacent issuers runs into the hundreds of billions of dollars, several multiples of the entire 2025 US IPO market. For a fuller breakdown of how these listings stack up against earlier years, see our coverage of why the US IPO market reopened.

The AI debuts that proved demand was real

If anyone doubted investor appetite, the chip makers settled it. Cerebras Systems, which builds wafer-scale processors for AI training, priced its IPO at $185 per share on May 13, above an already-raised range, and raised about $5.55 billion in the largest pure technology IPO of the year so far. The stock opened at $350 and closed its first session at $311.07, a 68% single-day gain, CNBC reported. The company had reported about $510 million in 2025 revenue, up from roughly $290 million the year before. Cerebras trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker CBRS.

That debut, detailed in our piece on the Cerebras AI-chip listing, did exactly what a successful IPO is supposed to do for the broader pipeline: it gave bankers a live, repeatable template for pricing AI risk. Quantinuum followed with an upsized $1.68 billion Nasdaq offering priced at $60 a share on June 4. Each completed deal lowers the perceived risk for the next issuer in line.

What is driving the reopening

Three forces are pushing companies off the sidelines at once. The first is a friendlier rate and liquidity backdrop. After the tightening cycle that froze new issuance, a more stable cost of capital has made public-market valuations competitive again with what late-stage private rounds offer. The second is sheer AI demand. AI and AI-adjacent companies account for the overwhelming majority of the combined value in the 2026 pipeline, making this the most AI-concentrated IPO year on record. The third is pressure to exit. A large backlog of venture and private-equity-backed companies has aged well past the point where staying private was comfortable, and Blackstone president Jon Gray has publicly argued that 2026 will be the year IPOs roar back.

Investor appetite has also been validated by deals that priced in 2025 and held up. Klarna listed on the NYSE in September 2025 at $40 a share, above its guidance range, raising about $1.37 billion and opening near $52, Morningstar reported. Strong aftermarket performance from that cohort gave the 2026 class of issuers confidence that public buyers would show up.

The names still on the runway

Beyond SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic, the watchlist is deep. Databricks, the data and AI platform reporting roughly $5.4 billion in annualized revenue, is widely expected to file in the second half. Stripe remains the most-watched holdout, profitable enough and liquid enough in secondary markets that it is in no rush. Chime, the digital bank, is in the pipeline at a reported valuation around $25 billion, while names like Canva, Cohere, Strava, and Lime round out the list. Lime, the Uber-backed scooter and bike-rental company, filed in May to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker LIME.

The geographic story is global, too. The reopening in New York is mirrored by a tech listing revival in Hong Kong and a record run of deals in other markets, which is drawing some international issuers back toward dual-track plans. For US investors, the practical question is which of these companies prices with discipline and which leans on AI enthusiasm alone.

The risks under the optimism

A reopening is not the same as a sustained boom, and 2026 has already shown its teeth. The first quarter was buffeted by a tech sell-off, tariff turmoil, private-credit worries, and geopolitical conflict that briefly grounded the new-issue calendar, Renaissance Capital noted. Aftermarket performance is the real test. Cerebras illustrates both the upside and the fragility: after its 68% first-day pop the stock retraced sharply over the following weeks while still holding a premium to its IPO price.

Valuation discipline is the open question hanging over the mega-cap AI deals. Pricing OpenAI near $1 trillion or SpaceX above $1.7 trillion leaves little room for execution missteps, and a single disappointing debut among the giants could chill the entire pipeline. The concentration of value in a handful of AI names also means the 2026 IPO market rises and falls with one theme. That is a powerful tailwind while sentiment holds and a single point of failure if it does not.

FAQ

Is the US IPO market actually open again in 2026?

Yes. US issuers raised $34.2 billion through May 31, up 163.9% year over year, and the first quarter was the strongest in five years by proceeds, according to Renaissance Capital. SpaceX’s record $75 billion June listing confirmed that even the largest deals can clear the market.

What was the biggest IPO of 2026?

SpaceX, which raised about $75 billion on June 11 by selling 555.6 million shares at $135 each, the largest IPO on record, according to NBC News and NPR.

Are OpenAI and Anthropic going public this year?

Both have confidentially filed with the SEC. OpenAI is targeting a fourth-quarter listing at up to a $1 trillion valuation, and Anthropic filed days later off a $965 billion private valuation. Timing for both can still shift with market conditions.

Sources

1. NPR: SpaceX blasts off with a record-breaking $75 billion IPO
2. NBC News: SpaceX locks in IPO price of $135, making it largest stock debut ever
3. Renaissance Capital: 2026 IPO Market Stats
4. Renaissance Capital: 1Q 2026 US IPO Market Review
5. CNBC: Cerebras prices IPO above expected range
6. Fortune: Anthropic confidentially files for IPO at $965 billion valuation
7. Seeking Alpha: OpenAI said to eye Q4 IPO as it races Anthropic to go public
8. Morningstar: What’s behind Klarna’s $14 billion IPO valuation
9. Barchart: Blackstone’s Jon Gray says 2026 will be the year IPOs roar back