IPO Arrows Pointing Up in 2026

Between inviting economic conditions and a more favorable regulatory climate, all signs are pointing to a banner year for initial public offerings in 2026.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has made jumpstarting the market for IPOs a priority. In a December speech delivered at the New York Stock Exchange, chair Paul Atkins attributed the downturn in companies going public in the U.S. to public policy choices. Disclosure burdens, politicized shareholder voting and litigation risks all had a hand in discouraging companies from listing on U.S. exchanges, Atkins noted.

In particular, the SEC has made a concerted effort to strip away what Atkins has characterized as excessive disclosure requirements yielding information that is immaterial to investors. Reforms have focused on tailoring the rules around financial materiality and scaling requirements based on the size and maturity of companies. Atkins has suggested that cutting down on the number of disclosure requirements for smaller companies that have recently gone public can reduce IPO costs and maintain adequate investor protections.

Making it easier to take companies public is only half of the equation, of course. Market conditions also appear more hospitable to IPOs. The S&P 500 gained approximately 16% in 2025, signaling renewed investor confidence, and the consensus among market analysts is that 2026 is shaping up as another year in the black. Meanwhile, the CBOE Volatility Index, which is considered a gauge of investor anxiety, currently sits around a five-year low.

Against that backdrop, last year’s activity looks like a promising start for those hoping to open the U.S. IPO pipeline. Excluding offerings of SPACs and other financial vehicles, traditional IPOs raised nearly $48 billion in 2025. While that represented a small fraction of 2021’s $195 billion high-water mark for IPO volume, it still marked an increase from 2024.

Not surprisingly, technology companies—and those in tech-adjacent sectors—seem likely to headline the biggest IPO stories of 2026. Crypto-infrastructure company BitGo already enjoyed a successful debut on the NYSE, raking in more than $210 million from its offering last week. Despite Elon Musk’s track record of sparring with regulatory authorities, his rocket company, SpaceX, is reportedly readying for a gargantuan offering at some point this year. Other candidates to go public in 2026 include Honeywell’s computing unit, Quantinuum, and T-Head Semiconductor, a microchip manufacturer owned by Alibaba. Outside the tech sector, Jollibee, a Filipino fast-food chain, is exploring an IPO this year, while actress Jennifer Garner’s children’s snack company, Once Upon a Farm PBC, and retail chain Bob’s Discount Furniture have already filed for offerings.

With so many companies going public this year, the ranks of billionaires around the world will probably grow, too. For many who join the club, however, membership may only be temporary. Last year’s IPO wave produced more than 20 new billionaires. Among stockholders who saw their stakes in companies balloon to at least $1 billion on the first day of trading, the value of their holdings dropped by an average of 23% in the wake of going public. So, those newly minted billionaires may have to settle for hundreds of millions of dollars instead, underscoring the volatility of post-IPO valuations, especially in fast-moving sectors.

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