Tech IPO Statistics 2026
By Axis Intelligence Research
Co-author: Mia Scarlett (Business) | Last updated: September 16, 2026 | License: CC BY 4.0
Axis Intelligence Research finds the 2025 U.S. tech IPO class scores 51.1 on the Axis Tech IPO Froth Index (TIFI), a 0–100 scale where the 1999 class reads 95.6. Tech companies took 61.5% of U.S. IPO proceeds in 2025, nearly double their 1999 share, but through 31 deals instead of 370.
Quick Answer
- Is the tech IPO market in a bubble? Not by dot-com standards. The Axis Tech IPO Froth Index (TIFI) reads 51.1 for 2025, below 2020 (59.2) and 2021 (56.4), and far below 1999 (95.6), on data from Jay R. Ritter’s IPO statistics (University of Florida, updated September 14, 2026).
- How are tech IPOs valued? The median 2025 U.S. tech IPO priced at 11.8 times trailing sales, against 31.7 times in 2000.
- Where is tech IPO money raised in 2026? Asia-Pacific took about 66% of global tech, media and telecom (TMT) IPO proceeds in 1H 2026, by Axis Intelligence Research’s calculation on EY data.
Key Findings
- Axis Intelligence Research finds the Axis Tech IPO Froth Index (TIFI) at 51.1 for the 2025 U.S. tech IPO class, versus 95.6 in 1999 and 56.4 in 2021.
- Axis Intelligence Research calculates that tech companies raised 61.5% of U.S. operating-company IPO proceeds in 2025, compared with 34.5% in 1999, from Jay R. Ritter’s data.
- According to Jay R. Ritter, 26% of 2025 U.S. tech IPOs were profitable on trailing earnings, against 14% in 1999 and 13% in 2000.
- Axis Intelligence Research calculates that Asia-Pacific raised about 66% of global TMT IPO proceeds in 1H 2026 ($19 billion of $29 billion), based on EY data.
- Axis Intelligence Research calculates that Cerebras Systems priced its May 2026 IPO at about 78 times 2025 revenue, 6.6 times the 2025 median U.S. tech IPO multiple.
What Is the Axis Tech IPO Froth Index (TIFI)?
The Axis Tech IPO Froth Index (TIFI) measures how closely a year’s class of U.S. tech IPOs resembles the 1999–2000 dot-com peak, on a 0–100 scale. A reading of 100 means every component matched its worst dot-com level. A reading near 0 means none of the bubble conditions were present.
TIFI answers the question every banker, allocator and journalist asked when AI listings returned: is this 1999 again? It answers with four measurable conditions, not adjectives.
TIFI readings, 1999 to 2025
| Year | First-day heat | Valuation stretch | Loss tolerance | Tech crowding | TIFI | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 100.0 | 83.6 | 98.9 | 100.0 | 95.6 | Axis calculation on Ritter data |
| 2000 | 79.8 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 87.2 | 91.7 | Axis calculation on Ritter data |
| 2007 | 21.7 | 20.5 | 81.6 | 61.5 | 46.3 | Axis calculation on Ritter data |
| 2020 | 72.2 | 42.9 | 89.7 | 32.1 | 59.2 | Axis calculation on Ritter data |
| 2021 | 38.1 | 47.9 | 90.8 | 48.7 | 56.4 | Axis calculation on Ritter data |
| 2022 | 10.7 | 17.7 | 57.5 | 20.5 | 26.6 | Axis calculation on Ritter data |
| 2023 | 0.0 | 42.9 | 77.0 | 21.8 | 35.4 | Axis calculation on Ritter data |
| 2024 | 47.4 | 29.7 | 90.8 | 24.4 | 48.1 | Axis calculation on Ritter data |
| 2025 | 38.5 | 37.2 | 85.1 | 43.6 | 51.1 | Axis calculation on Ritter data |
Axis Intelligence Research finds that one component carries the 2025 reading: loss tolerance, at 85.1. Public investors still buy unprofitable tech companies almost as readily as in 2000. What they no longer do is pay dot-com multiples for them or push them up 70% on the first day.
How TIFI is calculated
Each component is the 2025 (or any year’s) value divided by its worst reading in 1999 or 2000, multiplied by 100 and capped at 100. Inputs come from four of Ritter’s tables:
- First-day heat = mean tech first-day return ÷ 86.7% (1999). Negative returns score 0. (Table 4h)
- Valuation stretch = median tech price-to-sales at offer ÷ 31.7x (2000). (Table 4a)
- Loss tolerance = share of tech IPOs not profitable ÷ 87% (2000). (Table 4b)
- Tech crowding = tech share of all IPOs ÷ 78% (1999). (Table 9)
TIFI = 0.25 × (first-day heat + valuation stretch + loss tolerance + tech crowding).
Worked example, 2025: first-day heat 33.4 ÷ 86.7 = 38.5; valuation stretch 11.8 ÷ 31.7 = 37.2; loss tolerance 74 ÷ 87 = 85.1; tech crowding 34 ÷ 78 = 43.6. TIFI = (38.5 + 37.2 + 85.1 + 43.6) ÷ 4 = 51.1.
The index covers U.S. operating-company IPOs as Ritter defines them, so it captures listings like Figma and Cerebras but not SPAC mergers, ADRs or Hong Kong’s Chapter 18C tech listings. Equal weights are deliberate: no single condition defined the dot-com era alone.
Mia Scarlett: Read the components the way you’d read segments. Valuation and first-day pricing, the two numbers that made 1999 a bubble, sit in the high 30s. Loss tolerance is the segment that never normalized: it has scored 77 or higher in every year since 2020 except 2022. The market has repriced growth. It has not re-learned to demand earnings.
How Many Tech Companies Went Public in the U.S.?
Thirty-one tech companies completed U.S. IPOs in 2025, up from 14 in 2024, according to Jay R. Ritter. That is a quarter of 2021’s 121 tech IPOs and less than a tenth of 1999’s 370.
U.S. tech IPO activity by year
| Year | Tech IPOs | Tech share of all IPOs | Tech IPO proceeds ($M) | Tech share of IPO proceeds | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 370 | 78% | 22,298 | 34.5% | Ritter; Axis calculation |
| 2000 | 261 | 68% | 23,528 | 36.3% | Ritter; Axis calculation |
| 2007 | 76 | 48% | 10,566 | 29.6% | Ritter; Axis calculation |
| 2020 | 46 | 25% | 41,423 | 67.0% | Ritter; Axis calculation |
| 2021 | 121 | 38% | 73,192 | 61.3% | Ritter; Axis calculation |
| 2022 | 6 | 16% | 1,681 | 24.0% | Ritter; Axis calculation |
| 2023 | 9 | 17% | 4,256 | 35.7% | Ritter; Axis calculation |
| 2024 | 14 | 19% | 9,015 | 43.1% | Ritter; Axis calculation |
| 2025 | 31 | 34% | 23,980 | 61.5% | Ritter; Axis calculation |
Ritter’s tech proceeds come from Table 4a, which also counts direct listings (at zero proceeds), and exclude over-allotment shares. Tech share of proceeds is Axis Intelligence Research’s division of tech proceeds by all operating-company proceeds in Ritter’s Table 1.
Tech IPO market value at first close
The 31 tech IPOs of 2025 had a combined market value of $246.8 billion at their first closing price, Ritter reports. Axis Intelligence Research calculates that equals 58.6% of the $421 billion first-day value of all 2025 U.S. IPOs. The median 2025 tech IPO was worth $3.03 billion at first close, about six times the 1999 median of $493 million.
Mia Scarlett: Fewer issuers, bigger checks. In 1999 tech was 78% of the deals and a third of the dollars, because hundreds of small companies listed. In 2025 it was a third of the deals and three-fifths of the dollars. That is the private-market decade showing up in the prospectus: companies arrive older, larger, and with the valuation already partly spent.
How Are Tech IPOs Valued Compared With the Dot-Com Era?
The median U.S. tech IPO of 2025 priced at 11.8 times trailing twelve-month sales at the offer price and 13.7 times at the first close, according to Ritter’s Table 4a. In 2000 those medians were 31.7x and 49.5x. The 1980–2025 median at offer is 6.2x.
Median tech IPO price-to-sales ratio
| Year | P/S at offer price | P/S at first close | Median age (years) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 26.5x | 43.0x | 4 | Jay R. Ritter, Table 4a |
| 2000 | 31.7x | 49.5x | 5 | Jay R. Ritter, Table 4a |
| 2007 | 6.5x | 7.8x | 8 | Jay R. Ritter, Table 4a |
| 2020 | 13.6x | 21.8x | 12 | Jay R. Ritter, Table 4a |
| 2021 | 15.2x | 17.8x | 12 | Jay R. Ritter, Table 4a |
| 2022 | 5.6x | 6.0x | 15 | Jay R. Ritter, Table 4a |
| 2023 | 13.6x | 13.6x | 6 | Jay R. Ritter, Table 4a |
| 2024 | 9.4x | 11.9x | 13 | Jay R. Ritter, Table 4a |
| 2025 | 11.8x | 13.7x | 12 | Jay R. Ritter, Table 4a |
The gap between the offer-price and first-close multiples is a pricing signal in its own right. In 2000 the market added 17.8 turns of sales on day one. In 2025 it added 1.9.
AI hardware IPO valuation: the Cerebras multiple
Cerebras Systems sold 30,000,000 Class A shares at $185.00 on May 13, 2026, for gross proceeds of $5.55 billion, according to its Form 424B4 prospectus. The prospectus reports 215,110,345 shares outstanding after the offering and 2025 revenue of $510.0 million.
Axis Intelligence Research calculates an implied price-to-sales ratio of about 78x at the offer price.
Formula: 215,110,345 shares × $185.00 = $39.80 billion implied market value (undiluted, before over-allotment, the same convention Ritter uses). $39.80 billion ÷ $510.0 million revenue = 78.0x. Against the 2025 median tech IPO multiple of 11.8x, that is 6.6 times higher.
A second number from the same filing belongs next to it: Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence accounted for 62.0% of 2025 revenue and G42 for 24.0%, and Class B holders keep about 99.2% of voting power after the offering.
Mia Scarlett: Seventy-eight times sales is a dot-com multiple attached to a post-dot-com company: ten years old, $510 million of revenue, two related customers producing 86% of it. The class median says the market is disciplined. The marquee AI print says discipline is being applied selectively, and the median can’t show you that.
Are Tech IPOs Profitable in 2026?
Twenty-six percent of 2025 U.S. tech IPOs reported positive trailing twelve-month earnings, according to Ritter’s Table 4b. The 1980–2025 average is 47%. The dot-com classes sat at 14% (1999) and 13% (2000).
Tech IPO profitability and venture backing
| Year | Tech IPOs profitable | VC-backed share of tech IPOs | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 14% | 68% | Jay R. Ritter, Tables 4, 4b |
| 2000 | 13% | 70% | Jay R. Ritter, Tables 4, 4b |
| 2007 | 29% | 76% | Jay R. Ritter, Tables 4, 4b |
| 2020 | 22% | 73% | Jay R. Ritter, Tables 4, 4b |
| 2021 | 21% | 65% | Jay R. Ritter, Tables 4, 4b |
| 2022 | 50% | 17% | Jay R. Ritter, Tables 4, 4b |
| 2023 | 33% | 44% | Jay R. Ritter, Tables 4, 4b |
| 2024 | 21% | 60% | Jay R. Ritter, Tables 4, 4b |
| 2025 | 26% | 74% | Jay R. Ritter, Tables 4, 4b |
The profitable share has not reached 30% in any year since 2007, except the six-deal class of 2022. Profitability rises when tech IPO volume collapses, because only the strongest issuers list in a closed window.
Why the profitability number is lower than the headline
Ritter measures trailing earnings from the prospectus, usually after one-time items. That is stricter than the adjusted metrics issuers put in their roadshow decks. Cerebras illustrates the gap: its prospectus shows GAAP net income of $237.8 million for 2025 and a non-GAAP net loss of $75.7 million, the swing coming from a $363.3 million change in the fair value of a forward contract liability.
How Big Are Tech IPO First-Day Returns?
U.S. tech IPOs returned a mean 33.4% on their first trading day in 2025, against 27.1% for non-tech IPOs, according to Ritter’s Table 4h. Over 1980–2025, tech IPOs averaged 31.2% on day one and non-tech IPOs 12.1%.
| Year | Tech mean first-day return | Non-tech mean first-day return | Tech IPOs doubling on day one | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 86.7% | 17.2% | 114 | Jay R. Ritter, Tables 4e, 4h |
| 2000 | 69.2% | 28.1% | 70 | Jay R. Ritter, Tables 4e, 4h |
| 2020 | 62.6% | 33.5% | 13 | Jay R. Ritter, Tables 4e, 4h |
| 2021 | 33.0% | 31.6% | 6 | Jay R. Ritter, Tables 4e, 4h |
| 2024 | 41.1% | 9.1% | 1 | Jay R. Ritter, Tables 4e, 4h |
| 2025 | 33.4% | 27.1% | 3 | Jay R. Ritter, Tables 4e, 4h |
Three 2025 tech IPOs doubled on their first day. In 1999, 114 did. The first-day premium on tech has narrowed to 6.3 percentage points over non-tech, from 69.5 points in 1999.
Mia Scarlett: A 33% average pop with three doublers is a market that underprices, not one that is euphoric. The spread over non-tech matters more than the level: at 6.3 points it says investors are paying up for tech allocations modestly, not treating every ticker with a .ai domain as a lottery ticket.
Where Are Tech IPOs Raising Money in 2026? Americas vs Asia-Pacific vs EMEIA
Tech, media and telecom IPOs raised $29 billion worldwide from 98 listings in 1H 2026, according to EY, equal to TMT’s full-year 2025 total. The geography shifted sharply.
TMT IPO activity by region
| Region | TMT IPOs 2025 | TMT proceeds 2025 ($B) | TMT IPOs 1H 2026 | TMT proceeds 1H 2026 ($B) | Share of global TMT proceeds, 1H 2026 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asia-Pacific | 107 | 13 | 64 | 19 | ~66% | EY, Dealogic; Axis calculation |
| Americas | 43 | 9 | 8 | 9 | ~31% | EY, Dealogic; Axis calculation |
| EMEIA | 73 | 7 | 26 | 2 | ~7% | EY, Dealogic; Axis calculation |
| Global | 223 | 29 | 98 | 29 | 100% | EY, Dealogic |
EY rounds each proceeds figure to the nearest $1 billion, so regional shares sum slightly above 100%.
Axis Intelligence Research finds that Asia-Pacific raised more TMT IPO capital in six months of 2026 ($19 billion) than in all of 2025 ($13 billion). TMT accounted for 40% of all Asia-Pacific IPO proceeds in the half, per EY.
The Americas tell the opposite story in deal count. Eight TMT IPOs raised $9 billion, matching the region’s full-year 2025 TMT proceeds on 35 fewer deals. Axis Intelligence Research calculates the average Americas TMT IPO at about $1.1 billion in 1H 2026, against about $300 million in Asia-Pacific and $77 million in EMEIA. TMT was only 7% of Americas IPO proceeds, because a single June offering placed about $86 billion in EY’s industrials category.
Tech IPO themes by region
EY identifies AI infrastructure, semiconductors, robotics and advanced manufacturing as the most active segments across much of Asia-Pacific, with Hong Kong’s Chapter 18C and the STAR Market providing routes for hard-tech issuers that are not yet profitable. In the United States, EY names semiconductors, power and data center infrastructure as the strongest AI-linked momentum. For country-level listing counts and exchange rankings, see our IPO statistics by country.
Mia Scarlett: The American tech IPO market in 2026 is a handful of billion-dollar prints. The Asian one is a production line. If you track tech listings by dollars you’ll conclude the U.S. dominates; track them by issuers and Asia-Pacific listed eight companies for every one in the Americas.
What Is in the AI Mega-IPO Pipeline?
Two frontier AI developers have confirmed confidential draft registration statements with the SEC, and neither has set a price, share count or date.
| Company | Filing status | Date | What was disclosed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthropic, PBC | Confidential draft Form S-1 submitted | June 1, 2026 | Shares and price not set; depends on market conditions | Anthropic |
| OpenAI | Confidential S-1 submission confirmed | June 8, 2026 | Timing not decided | OpenAI |
EY reports that 12 U.S. IPOs raised more than $1 billion each in 1H 2026, up from four in 1H 2025, and that several trillion-dollar candidates could access U.S. markets by year-end.
What the pipeline means for tech IPO valuations
A confidential S-1 contains no public financials, so no valuation built from one can be sourced. What the historical data does allow is a benchmark. If an AI developer lists at the Cerebras multiple, it would sit at 78x sales; at the 2025 class median, 11.8x; at the 2000 median, 31.7x. The gap between those three numbers, not any rumored valuation, is where the pricing debate for the next mega-deal will happen. Every priced offering, range and filing is logged in our AI IPO Tracker.
Underwriting fees on AI mega-deals
Axis Intelligence Research calculates Cerebras paid a gross spread of 2.35% ($130.4 million of underwriting discounts on $5.55 billion), from its 424B4. Ritter reports that U.S. IPOs raising $1 billion or more between 2001 and 2025 paid a mean spread of 4.44%.
Mia Scarlett: A confidential filing is optionality with a lawyer’s letterhead. The number that will move the 2027 tech IPO statistics is not the valuation anyone whispers; it’s the first public S-1 with audited revenue, because that is the denominator every multiple on this page depends on.
Methodology
Collection. Axis Intelligence Research assembled this dataset on September 16, 2026, from five primary documents, each fetched and read: Jay R. Ritter, Initial Public Offerings: Updated Statistics (University of Florida, September 14, 2026), Tables 1, 1a, 4, 4a, 4b, 4e, 4h and 9; EY Q2 2026 Global IPO Trends (Dealogic data), global and regional sector distributions; the Cerebras Systems Form 424B4 dated May 13, 2026; and the Rule 135 notices published by Anthropic (June 1, 2026) and OpenAI (June 8, 2026). Every number on this page is a row in the downloadable CSV with its source URL and retrieval date.
Definitions. Ritter defines tech stocks as internet-related and other technology companies, including telecom and excluding biotech, and counts operating-company IPOs with an offer price of at least $5, excluding ADRs, SPACs, units, REITs, closed-end funds, banks and small best-efforts deals. EY’s TMT category and Ritter’s tech category are not the same universe; this page never merges them.
Axis calculations.
- Tech share of IPO proceeds = Ritter Table 4a tech proceeds ÷ Ritter Table 1 aggregate proceeds.
- Tech share of IPO market value = Table 4e total tech market value ÷ Table 1a market value at first close.
- Regional share of TMT proceeds = EY regional TMT proceeds ÷ EY global TMT proceeds.
- Average TMT deal size = EY regional TMT proceeds ÷ EY regional TMT IPO count.
- Cerebras price-to-sales = shares outstanding after offering × offer price ÷ 2025 revenue; gross spread = underwriting discounts ÷ gross proceeds.
- TIFI = equal-weighted mean of four components, each scaled to its 1999–2000 extreme (formula and worked example above).
Scope notes. TIFI readings are computed for the years shown; 2026 will be computed when Ritter publishes full-year 2026 tables. EY rounds proceeds to the nearest $1 billion and publishes some regional figures as chart labels, so small-region shares carry rounding. Ritter’s Table 4a counts 34 tech listings in 2025 including direct listings; Tables 4b, 4e and 4h count 31 IPOs. First-day and aftermarket performance for all sectors will be covered in depth in our dedicated IPO performance statistics page.
About This Dataset
File: tech-ipo-statistics.csv — 239 rows, one observation per row, in long format with metric, value, unit, as_of_date, geography, segment, period, and full provenance columns (source_org, source_document, source_url, retrieved_date, is_primary, axis_calculated, method_note).
Coverage: U.S. tech IPO counts, proceeds, market value, price-to-sales ratios, profitability, age, venture backing and first-day returns for 1999, 2000, 2007 and 2020–2025; global and regional TMT IPO activity for 2025 and 1H 2026; Cerebras Systems offering terms and derived multiples; AI developer S-1 status; and every TIFI component and reading.
License: CC BY 4.0. Reuse freely with attribution: Axis Intelligence Research, Tech IPO Statistics 2026, 2026.
Also available on: Hugging Face · Kaggle · GitHub (Axis Intelligence Research).
How to Cite This Page
APA Axis Intelligence Research, & Scarlett, M. (2026, September 16). Tech IPO statistics 2026: Valuations, profitability, regional proceeds and the dot-com test. Axis Intelligence. https://axis-intelligence.com/tech-ipo-statistics/
MLA Axis Intelligence Research, and Mia Scarlett. “Tech IPO Statistics 2026: Valuations, Profitability, Regional Proceeds and the Dot-Com Test.” Axis Intelligence, 16 Sept. 2026, axis-intelligence.com/tech-ipo-statistics/.
Chicago Axis Intelligence Research, and Mia Scarlett. “Tech IPO Statistics 2026: Valuations, Profitability, Regional Proceeds and the Dot-Com Test.” Axis Intelligence, September 16, 2026. https://axis-intelligence.com/tech-ipo-statistics/.
Tech IPO Questions Allocators, Founders and Analysts Are Asking
Is the 2025–2026 tech IPO market a repeat of the dot-com bubble?
Not on the numbers. The Axis Tech IPO Froth Index (TIFI) scores the 2025 U.S. tech IPO class at 51.1 out of 100, against 95.6 for 1999 and 91.7 for 2000, per Axis Intelligence Research on Jay R. Ritter’s data.
What price-to-sales multiple do tech companies get at IPO?
The median 2025 U.S. tech IPO priced at 11.8 times trailing sales and closed its first day at 13.7 times, according to Jay R. Ritter. The 1980–2025 median at the offer price is 6.2 times.
Which part of the tech IPO market still looks like 1999?
Loss tolerance. Only 26% of 2025 U.S. tech IPOs were profitable, per Ritter, giving that TIFI component a score of 85.1. Valuation and first-day return components score in the high 30s.
Why do tech IPOs raise more money now with far fewer deals?
Companies list later and larger. The median 2025 tech IPO was 12 years old and worth $3.03 billion at first close, versus 4 years and $493 million in 1999, per Ritter. Tech took 61.5% of 2025 U.S. IPO proceeds from 31 deals.
Is Asia overtaking the U.S. in tech IPOs?
By capital raised in 1H 2026, yes. Asia-Pacific raised $19 billion of $29 billion in global TMT IPO proceeds, about 66%, across 64 listings, while the Americas raised $9 billion from 8 listings, per EY data calculated by Axis Intelligence Research.
How expensive was the Cerebras IPO compared with other tech listings?
About 78 times 2025 revenue at the $185.00 offer price, by Axis Intelligence Research’s calculation from the company’s 424B4. That is 6.6 times the 2025 median U.S. tech IPO multiple of 11.8x.
Do unprofitable IPOs get bigger first-day pops?
In 2025, yes. U.S. IPOs with negative trailing earnings averaged a 39.8% first-day return, against 17.2% for issuers with zero or positive earnings, according to Jay R. Ritter’s Table 9.
What will change the tech IPO statistics before year-end 2026?
A public S-1 from a frontier AI developer. Anthropic (June 1, 2026) and OpenAI (June 8, 2026) have confirmed only confidential submissions, with no price, share count or date disclosed, so neither yet contributes a sourced valuation.
Related research: IPO Statistics 2026 · IPO Statistics by Country · AI IPO Tracker · AI Capex Tracker · AI Data Center Tracker · Semiconductor Fab Investment Tracker