By Paul R. La Monica
Investors are salivating over the initial public offering of Cerebras Systems. The artificial-intelligence chip company's IPO on Thursday is the biggest of 2026, raising $6.4 billion at a market valuation of about $55 billion. The stock opened at $350, nearly double its IPO price, once it began trading on the Nasdaq, under ticker symbol CBRS. It quickly surged to $385 before being halted for volatility.
But even though Cerebras is cashing in on the AI craze, it's an anomaly this year. There actually haven't been many big tech IPOs -- at least not yet.
Only five techs have gone public this year before Cerebras, according to data from IPO research and investing firm Renaissance Capital. And they have mostly underwhelmed. That may be largely because none of them were blockbuster deals. The largest was crypto firm BitGo Holdings, which raised $213 million from its stock sale in late January. Shares have tumbled nearly 35% from their IPO price.
Cerebras, on the other hand, is a better gauge of demand for new tech companies -- and those with an AI component, in particular. Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX -- which is morphing into more of an AI play after absorbing xAI, the start-up that includes the AI chatbot Grok and X.com (formerly Twitter) -- will also be a good AI sentiment litmus test.
A solid start and continued strong performance for Cerebras and SpaceX in the aftermarket could then set the stage for even more massive tech IPOs this year, such as Databricks, design software firm Canva, mobile payments leader Stripe, predictions market Kalshi and, drum roll please, ChatGPT owner OpenAI and Claude developer Anthropic.
"If Cerebras's IPO is successful, Databricks and Canva could follow it to the public market. Databricks is the most interesting to me, as it's generating more than $4 billion in annualized revenue and is cash-flow positive," said Paul Meeks, managing director and head of technology research for Freedom Capital Markets, in a report this week.
Meeks added that as "OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX are all waiting to pounce," there are some growing concerns though about a crowding-out in the IPO market.
"Will there be enough investor money to go around? We doubt it," Meeks said, adding that Anthropic might have the most momentum.
But all three could thrive. Daniel Maguire, an analyst covering SpaceX for Ark Invest, and Frank Downing, director of research for AI and cloud at Ark, recently told Barron's that the lofty valuations for the Big Three could be warranted. Maguire noted SpaceX's dominant position in the launch business and its plans to boost revenue with orbital data centers to meet AI power needs.
Downing estimates that potential annual revenue from AI could reach $1.4 trillion over the next few years, meaning plenty of money to go around for market leaders OpenAI and Anthropic -- as well as SpaceX and others. Ark owns all three companies in its Ark Venture closed-end interval fund.
Still, the SpaceX IPO isn't expected until June. And OpenAI and Anthropic haven't even filed yet. That's why investors may want to pay attention to biotechs and industrial firms. They have dominated the IPO market activity this year, and they are performing well, too.
Renaissance Capital said 16 healthcare companies and 16 industrials have gone public this year. The healthcare stocks are up 35%, on average from their IPO prices. Industrial debuts have fared even better, surging 49% from their IPO prices.
Biotechs Veradermics and SpyGlass Pharma have been standout performers among healthcare. Veradermics, which is developing medications to treat hair loss, more than doubled on its first day of trading and is up over 500% from its IPO price. SpyGlass, which is working on implantable devices to manage eye conditions, is up 50% from its IPO price.
"The market has been running on a very narrow set of winners for a long time, and sophisticated institutional investors are actively looking for growth stories that are not tethered to the same macro risks like tariffs, semiconductor supply chains, and hyperscaler capex cycles. Biotech checks that box," said Mike Bellin, U.S. IPO Services Leader for PwC, in an e-mail to Barron's.
On the industrial side, solar power company SOLV Energy, HVAC manufacturer Madison Air Solutions, and electrical equipment distributor Forgent Power Solutions are among the better performers within the sector. These three have benefited from the need for more energy to fuel AI services.
"Healthcare is doing well. Industrials, too...which includes certain AI infrastructure companies," said Matt Kennedy, senior strategist with Renaissance Capital, in an email to Barron's. "In short, investors are still attracted to IPOs that are 'AI resistant,' or that benefit from clear tailwinds."
Kennedy said some of those catalysts are rising energy prices, a surge in biotech mergers, and increased capital expenditures for AI from hyperscalers.
So, don't ignore IPOs in less sexy industries, even as the window for new tech offerings starts to open wide.
Write to Paul R. La Monica at paul.lamonica@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 14, 2026 13:10 ET (17:10 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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