The Securities and Exchange Commission has made kick-starting the IPO market a priority. In a speech in December at the New York Stock Exchange said chairman Paul Atkins attributed the decline in the number of companies going public in the US to public policy choices. The burdens of disclosure, politicized shareholder voting and the risk of lawsuits have all contributed to discouraging companies from listing on U.S. stock exchanges, Atkins noted.
In particular, the SEC has made a concerted effort to get rid of what Atkins has characterized as excessive disclosure requirements that produce information of no interest to investors. The reforms aimed to align rules around financial materiality and scale requirements based on the size and maturity of companies. Atkins suggested that reducing the number of disclosure requirements for smaller companies that have recently gone public can lower IPO costs and maintain adequate investor protection.
Making it easier to list companies on the stock exchange is of course only half the story. Market conditions also appear more favorable for IPOs. The S&P 500 gained about 16% in 2025, indicating renewed investor confidence, and the consensus among market analysts is that 2026 will be another year in the black. Meanwhile, the CBOE Volatility Index, considered a gauge of investor fear, is currently near a five-year low.
Against this backdrop, last year’s activities appear to be a promising start for those hoping to open the U.S. IPO pipeline. Excluding offerings from SPACs and other financial vehicles, traditional IPOs raised nearly $48 billion in 2025. While that represented a small portion of 2021’s record $195 billion volume, it still represented an increase from 2024.
It is not surprising that technology companies – and companies in technology-related sectors –seem likely to be the biggest IPO stories of 2026. Crypto infrastructure company BitGo had already made a successful debut on the NYSE and raised more than $210 million last week. Despite Elon Musk’s track record of sparring with regulators, his rocket company SpaceXis reportedly preparing for a massive offering sometime this year. Other candidates to go public in 2026 include Honeywell’s computing unit, How manyAnd T-head semiconductora microchip manufacturer owned by Alibaba. Outside the technology sector Jollibeea Philippine fast-food chain, is exploring an initial public offering this year, while actress Jennifer Garner’s children’s snack company, Once upon a time there was a PBC farmand retail chain Bob’s Discount Furniture have already requested quotes.
With so many companies going public this year, the number of billionaires around the world is likely to grow as well. However, for many who join the club, membership is only temporary. Last year’s IPO wave created more than twenty new billionaires. Among shareholders who saw their shares in companies rise to at least $1 billion on the first day of trading, the value of their shares fell fell by an average of 23% after the IPO. So these new billionaires may have to settle for hundreds of millions of dollars, underscoring the volatility of post-IPO valuations, especially in fast-moving industries.
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