As the initial public offering market heats up, investors could be able to choose from a slew of newly issued stocks in 2025.
The list of expected IPOs in 2025 includes several high-profile financial technology and artificial intelligence stocks. PitchBook analysts predict that under ideal conditions, about 20 unicorns (private companies valued at $1 billion or more) could enter the market by 2025. are.
This week could see the first major IPO of the year, with the listing of natural gas exporter Venture Global. The company plans to seek a valuation of up to $65 billion, a blockbuster debut and one sign that a long-awaited IPO recovery is underway.
Other big IPOs that could hit the market in 2025 include:
ChimeKlarnaMedline IndustriesSailPoint TechnologiesCerebras SystemsCoreWeave
“There are already some big IPOs coming to market,” says Angelo Bochanis, IPO data and index associate at Renaissance Capital. “The only question is the speed and scale of the IPO recovery.”
Top IPOs to watch in 2025
Analysts believe the rosy outlook for IPOs in 2025 is due to a combination of powerful factors. Stocks are entering the third year of a bull market, the economy is poised to continue growing, and investors believe the Federal Reserve will continue to cut interest rates, even if the scope of the cuts is smaller than previously expected. I’m optimistic that it will.
Although 2024 saw more IPO activity than the previous two years, it still felt below normal years. This year may be a different story. “We believe the economic recovery in 2024, combined with an improving macro environment, will mark the beginning of a new multi-year period in which IPO values exceed $50 billion per year,” private equity analysts at PitchBook wrote last year. writes.
Some names are already making waves. Market watchers are keeping an eye on fintech companies and AI-related initiatives, as well as more established private companies with a track record of success. Here are six IPO candidates investors should keep an eye on in 2025.
chime and crana
Mobile banking company Chime is one of the hottest IPO candidates over the next year. The company is valued at $25 billion and has raised more than $2.6 billion in venture capital funding since its founding more than a decade ago, according to PitchBook.
According to media reports, the company secretly filed for an IPO late last year. Duncan Davidson, general partner and co-founder of Bullpen Capital, sees the company as a litmus test for the success of other IPOs next year. “If you come out early and do well, you’ll have a very good lead,” he said.
Two of Chime’s peers in the fintech space, Klarna and Stripe, are also on this year’s IPO shortlist. Sweden-based buy now, pay later company Klarna has filed for an IPO in the United States. PitchBook puts Klarna’s latest valuation at $6.7 billion.
“This looks like the kind of company that is likely to get a lot of interest…in terms of a technology IPO, but also potentially benefit from sustained consumer spending,” Bochanis said.
Medline Industries
Illinois-based medical supplies company Medline is another candidate for a blockbuster 2025 IPO. Medline was acquired by current private equity owners Blackstone, Carlyle, Hellman & Friedman in 2021.
The company’s final valuation was more than $42 billion, according to PitchBook, and analysts at Renaissance Capital expect the IPO to raise about $50 billion. Bochanis said Medline’s size and history set it apart from other companies that might enter the market. “This is a mature business,” he says. “They are one of the biggest players in this space.” Medline secretly filed for an IPO in December, Reuters reported. reported.
sailpoint technology
Founded in 2004, SailPoint is a cybersecurity company that develops identity governance software for enterprises. The company is owned by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, which took it private in 2022 in a $6.9 billion deal, according to Pitchbook. The company’s final valuation was $8.5 billion. that submitted The company announced its IPO earlier this month and plans to list on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker SAIL.
cerebral system
California-based Cerebras is attracting the attention of investors looking for the next big AI venture. Cerebras designs chips and software that power AI applications. Davidson likens the company to semiconductor giant Nvidia. NVDA. “This is purely a playable AI chip,” he says. The company is currently valued at $4.25 billion and is backed by several venture capital investors, according to PitchBook. that submitted The company will apply to the SEC for listing on Nasdaq in September.
core weave
A bigger player in the AI space is cloud infrastructure company CoreWeave, which is valued at $23 billion and has raised $1.6 billion from venture capital investors, according to PitchBook. Bochanis said CoreWeave’s business model of renting hardware to other companies could be particularly attractive to the public. “This is a way for many small businesses to access the power they need to use AI intensively. It could generate a lot of interest from investors looking for new AI initiatives.” he says.
Headwinds and tailwinds for IPO in 2025
Filling the sails of the IPO market over the coming year is transparency surrounding the incoming Trump administration, which market participants hope will be friendlier to American companies. “There is optimism among the investor community that &mldr will be successful. It will be easier to close the deal,” says Mike Belin, IPO services leader at PwC US . “All of this bodes well for potential investors and IPOs as a risky asset. We now have more certainty about where the administration is going, which wasn’t necessarily the case before. .”
Not to mention the momentum from 2024 onwards. “Behind the scenes, there is a belief in the ecosystem that the market will open up,” Davidson says.
Analysts at PitchBook have found that historically, momentum tends to pick up after several years of weakness. “We are encouraged by the observation that IPO activity often maintains momentum for three to five years after a sharp decline,” they wrote recently.
However, the policy situation in 2025 will create uncertainty for investors, and those uncertainties may impact IPO activity. Belin pointed to the threat of lingering inflation, which could force the Fed to keep interest rates high for an extended period of time. That could put pressure on investor confidence and the IPO market. Rising bond yields and increased volatility in the bond market are also attracting investors’ attention.
IPO backlog
The IPO market in 2025 will not be limited to fintech and AI. According to , the public IPO pipeline includes 170 companies. data The company estimates that the “shadow backlog” of companies that could go public within the next two years includes more than 200 companies.
“There’s a lot of pent-up supply on the IPO side,” Belin said. Given the slowdown in IPOs in 2022 and 2023, market watchers say older, more valuable startups that have otherwise been private for long periods could start entering public markets this year. It states that there is. Belin expects IPO prospects to be broadly diversified across sectors in 2025, but notes continued momentum in the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries in particular.
And of course, big tech isn’t going anywhere. Belin said he is “very excited,” but believes many AI companies are too early in their life cycles to go public this year. “We’ll see some activity in that space in 2025, but I think there’s probably room for growth for many of those organizations before they get listed,” he added.
Venture capital analysts at PitchBook say that if markets continue to welcome the prospect of lower interest rates, “we should see more risk appetite in the public markets, leading tech companies to believe that better than never.” It will become so.”
Bellin said energy and renewables companies could gain further momentum as the AI industry continues to create more power demand, adding that consumer companies could also continue to grow.
