PREVIEW: IPOs in 2026 - Blockbuster firms set for debut

2026 could be a very exciting year for the initial public offerings (IPOs) market with massive names potentially making their debuts. Renaissance Capital predicted that there would be up to 230 IPOs in 2026, with between $40 billion and $60 billion expected to be raised.

The tech sector will be the main star, with the top IPO candidates being SpaceX and OpenAI. According to multiple media reports, the space tech company, belonging to the world's richest man, Elon Musk, will be far ahead of everyone else, numbers-wise, as it is said that its total valuation could reach $1.5 trillion. This would make SpaceX only the second firm in history to achieve a total valuation of over $1 trillion at its IPO launch, after Saudi Aramco's legendary $1.88 trillion debut in 2019.

OpenAI's valuation is anticipated to hit anywhere between $800 billion and close to $1 trillion at the possible debut. With the AI competition becoming fiercer every year, Sam Altman's crown jewel will likely be looking to up its game further in 2026, with many businesses linked to it hoping for a successful IPO. The third candidate is Anthropic, OpenAI's major rival, the valuation of which is suspected to be over $350 billion, according to a CNBC report. Whether their IPOs are a hit or a miss could affect the entire AI ecosystem, as many tech giants, including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, Oracle, and CoreWeave, have all invested in or partnered with these two.

Other big names that could join public debuts in 2026 are: Databricks with $160 billion in valuation, Stripe with $120 billion in valuation, Revolut with $90 billion in valuation, Shein with $55 billion in valuation, Ripple and Canva, both with a valuation of $50 billion, and Kraken with a valuation of $20 billion. While China's ByteDance could also be a potential contender, complex relations between Beijing and Washington, and, in turn, regulatory hurdles, are making it impossible to decipher if TikTok’s parent company will renew its plans to go public in 2026.

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