Market Perspective: The Next Wave Of IPOs Is Taking Shape

We're entering what I would call the fourth great reopening of the IPO markets since 2000. Each of the prior pauses—the dot-com bust, the financial crisis, and the COVID-driven reset—was triggered by an extraordinary external event. And yet, each pause also created a clearing effect: it swept out the excesses of the prior cycle and made room for a new generation of companies to emerge.

The same dynamic is unfolding now. What we're seeing is not the resurgence of companies that have been trying unsuccessfully to go public for the past five years; it's a wave led by newer entrants—businesses born out of today's transformative forces in AI, infrastructure, and digital productivity. These are the kinds of companies that public investors have been waiting for—innovative, high-growth stories that haven't yet been accessible in the public markets.

Investor appetite remains healthy. In fact, the long pause has helped reset expectations on both sides. Sellers are finally ready to sell, and investors are eager to buy. That bid-ask spread—so wide over the past two years—has finally begun to narrow. As a result, we're likely to see meaningful IPO activity over the next six months, first from companies that are already at scale and profitable or close to it and then followed by smaller but still compelling growth stories, as well as large exits by private-equity-owned businesses.

While the market's initial reopening phase often favors more established issuers, memories on Wall Street are short. After a year of disciplined listings, I expect we'll soon see investors willing to back companies with lower or even negative EBITDA margins in exchange for strong growth trajectories and differentiated value propositions.

One notable shift from past cycles is readiness. A year ago, many companies simply weren't prepared to take advantage of a reopening window; finance teams were lean, internal controls lagged, and systems weren't IPO-ready. That's changing quickly. Companies now recognize that IPO preparedness isn't just about timing; it's about capability. The best-prepared organizations are treating IPO readiness as an operational transformation, not a transactional milestone.

In short, the market is open, investor demand is real, and the companies that have used the last two years to get their houses in order—financially, operationally, and strategically—will be the ones leading this next wave.

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