The IPO market reopens: Lessons from 2025 and expectations for 2026

Talking points

• Despite geopolitical uncertainty and episodic volatility, the 2025 IPO market proved resilient, delivering $44 billion in proceeds.
• Performance varied by sector, with technology, industrials, energy, insurance, and aerospace and defense leading the pack.
• Improving market conditions and a strong pipeline support optimism for upcoming IPOs in 2026, with the potential for new records if certain high-profile IPOs materialize.

Forecasting the IPO market is a bit like predicting the weather. You can see the clouds moving, but the timing is never quite what you’d expect.

A year ago, the question was whether 2025 would finally mark a true reopening or simply another cautious step forward. In the end, the year delivered something in between: more activity, more confidence, and a clearer sense of what the market is (and isn’t) willing to reward.

Importantly, the reopening has been uneven. Many issuers, particularly software and software as a service (SaaS) businesses without clear AI tailwinds, continue to face a wide valuation gap, heightened scrutiny on durability, and lower risk tolerance from investors. In that environment, timing windows can open and close quickly.

Even with significant headwinds from geopolitical uncertainty, the 2025 IPO market proved more resilient than many expected, ending above historical norms. Read on to explore what last year revealed about which way the winds of the IPO market are blowing for 2026.

An above-average year for the IPO market

2025 was an above-average year for IPOs with about $44 billion in proceeds—consistent with last year’s IPO market outlook.¹ That was a stronger reopening than forecast on volume.

How did individual sectors contribute to 2025’s year-end results? Here’s a breakdown.

2025 IPO trends by sector

Technology once again set the pace, but this was no return to the anything-goes mindset of earlier cycles. Investors gravitated toward established, enterprise-focused businesses with durable revenue models and credible paths to profitability. Companies tied to AI infrastructure and mission-critical software generally found receptive audiences, but still, much of the software sector remained on the sidelines in 2025.

Life sciences entered the year with high hopes, but the results were mixed. The sector stopped short of a banner year despite several successful offerings and a few standout debuts. Investor interest remained highly selective, favoring later-stage companies with clearer commercialization paths rather than opening the door broadly across the space.

Consumer IPOs also returned cautiously. Brands with pricing power and proven customer loyalty were able to attract interest, while discretionary and trend-driven concepts struggled to gain traction. Ongoing inflation sensitivity and shifting spending habits kept investors focused on resilience as much as growth.

Energy and industrials delivered some of the steadiest outcomes of the year. Growing investment interest in alternative energy sources, including nuclear, underscored a need for more capacity due to increasing power consumption at data centers. In industrials, investors valued the visibility and durability offered by infrastructure investment, reshoring, and defense-related manufacturing.

Financial services, especially insurance and specialty risk, proved that predictability still sells. Insurers with disciplined underwriting and consistent cash generation were among the more well-received IPOs of the year. Valuations remained grounded, but stability was a strength, not a drawback.

Aerospace and defense emerged as a quiet bright spot, supported by long-term government spending visibility, heightened geopolitical awareness, and growing interest in space-related capabilities. IPO candidates tied to defense technology and mission-critical services found investors receptive to durable demand and contracted revenue.

Blockchain and digital asset IPOs returned in 2025. After several years preparing for the right moment, some of the most remarkable IPOs involving stablecoin issuers and crypto exchanges finally crossed the finish line. Regulatory clarity around stablecoins, and measured progress toward further regulatory clarity, made a significant impact on overall market sentiment in 2025.

The IPO market outlook for 2026

Overall, the 2025 IPO market was characterized by its resiliency: The rebound was real, expectations around discipline proved correct, and the market made clear that fundamentals are steering the prevailing winds.

Other signals from 2025 offer additional perspective:

• Despite an April volatility spike that briefly rivaled pandemic-era peaks, the Cboe Volatility Index® (VIX® Index) quickly retreated, ending the year around 15.² That level lends itself to pricing accuracy and thoughtful planning.
• A slew of companies are poised to file for IPO in 2026, including several highly anticipated unicorns.³

With that backdrop, I’d expect $55 billion to $65 billion in capital proceeds for the 2026 IPO market. We should continue to see bright spots in financial services, aerospace and defense, and AI. If a handful of juggernauts in the latter two sectors choose to test the market this year, they could push IPO proceeds past $142 billion—setting a new high watermark for US IPOs.⁴

What role can Deloitte play?

If you’d like to discuss your own company’s path to IPO, we’re here to help. Please feel free to reach out to me directly, or review your readiness with our complimentary IPO SelfAssess tool. Either way, we can help you identify gaps, evaluate opportunities, and build a clear roadmap for moving forward.

Endnotes

1. Renaissance Capital, “Gradual IPO rebound continues in 2025 despite volatility,” US IPO Market 2025 Annual Review, January 2, 2026.
2. Cboe, “Cboe Volatility Index,” accessed January 5, 2026.
3. Paul R. La Monica, “Big IPOs could be coming in 2026. SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI are on the list,” Barron’s, January 2, 2026.
4. Renaissance Capital, “Gradual IPO rebound continues in 2025 despite volatility.”

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