The IPO is hot again. How investors can avoid a 2021 style hangover

Certainly, that confidence has led to the busiest start for IPOs since the 2020 and 2021 boom. Certainly, after the first burst of enthusiasm, March and April were rocky. The strong winds of macroeconomic forces, namely tariffs and sustainably high inflation and interest rates, have become exhausted to plan ice.

However, in late spring, the stocks rebounded. Pulse of the IPO market has been featured again. According to Dealogic Analysis, US exchanges reached a total of 103 IPOs in the first half of 2025, compared to 78 in the same period in 2024. The biggest IPO ever fits Venture Globala liquefied natural gas exporter, raising $1.75 billion in January. Overall, the IPO for the first half of the year raised $17 billion. (We offer Outlooks for these pages for four of the most widely viewed members of this year’s IPO class.)

Analysts and investors are optimistic that the IPO will remain strong until the fourth quarter, following a typical quiet period throughout Labor Day.

“There’s a lot of strong interest in the IPOs from the companies we’re talking about,” says Rachel Goering. ey American IPO leader. It is “promoted with optimism beyond 25 years and beyond ’26.”

Currently, many analysts see the current market situation as a return to form, and expect 2025 to be the best year in IPOs since 2025. And it could provide many opportunities to identify investors.

Signs of encouragement

Several recent well-known success stories show why some analysts remain bullish. A flashy debut from Circle Internet Group The company has experienced an extraordinary surge since its June 5th IPO after seeing Stablecoin publishers trade post-events. The stock opened at $69 and then peaked at over $263 in the second half of the month. In mid-July, it hovered around $230, more than three times the IPO price.

The success of the circle may have attracted the attention of other pre-IPO cryptocurrency companies, such as Gemini, the exchange that made its debut in June. AI infrastructure company CoreWeave made its inactive debut in March amid a wider technology selloff. The stock price in mid-July has increased by 231% since its offeringrose from $40 to $132.

Of course, others listed in the first quarter show more post-star performances. Still, analysts like what they see.

Gerring points out that the activity is not close to the level of 2021. According to S&P Global, it was a record year. There was historically low activity from 2022 to 2024, but that’s a good thing in Gerring’s book. Rather than continuing the cycle of excessive staining, she believes that the hangover is being readjusted to pre-2020 levels, but adds that it will take time to get there.

“We’re not disappointed at all by the number and volume we’re looking at,” says Goering. In particular, he says, “There can be almost a quarter of events where you have to navigate the company, which shocks the system.”

One major difference between 2021 and now is that companies entering the market this year are bigger, have a stronger foundation for growth, and are more profitable or are on the path to profitability, according to PWC partner and leader in US IPO practices. It can help you with IPOs as well as later performance. This is what investors are looking for.

“There’s a deeper pipeline of quality companies, but there’s a lot of known and unknown.”Mike Bellin, PWC, leader in US IPO practice

“There’s momentum in the market,” Bellin says. This says “opens more doors for some of the small, intermediate companies in the process and in the pipeline.”

Another encouraging feature of the current environment is that companies in the sector are preparing for IPOs. Technology and healthcare companies are leading the way this year, but companies in the fintech, energy and defense fields are also open to the public.

With batches of IPOs, there are always a few options, whether analysts and investors are most commonly seen in the variety. The companies that are most excited about the possibility of making their debut in the public market this year are Fintech company Klarna, Digital Design Company Figmapayment processing company stripeand ticket exchange Stubhub. Their offerings success –And whether they happen at all– Of course, it depends on the macro condition.

“We have a deep pipeline of quality companies looking at the capital market,” Belin says. “But there are still many known unknowns in the market. They say the doors are open to the IPO market in the second half of 2025, but that’s not wide open.”

What investors need to know

For the average retail investor, IPOs do not necessarily represent purchase opportunities. With lock-up periods and other restrictions, it is nearly impossible for outsiders to invest before a company debut, and surprises the first day pop for everyone except insiders and venture capitalists. Initial trading dates can be very unstable and are not appealing to long-term investors. And of course, new public stocks can be tanked at any time.

Broader economic concerns also affect IPO markets. Uncertainty is the inclusive state of 2025, a result of President Trump’s evolution, often unpredictable policy preferences, the acceleration of AI, and part of geopolitical conflicts in many parts of the world. Macroeconomic conditions lie in the minds of every analyst.

That uncertainty, particularly related to tariffs, has urged some businesses that once planned to list their lists in early 2025, at least until the second half of the year, and perhaps early 2026, to see how presidential policies affect consumer spending, inflation and interest rates. Meanwhile, Trump has said he has The Federal Reserve can lower benchmark fees this yearthere could be more IPOs on the horizon.

“Trade policy will ultimately close the IPO market if it starts to get worse,” Bellin said. Meanwhile, he said: “From a macro perspective, if you continue to read well with limited geopolitical disruptions, capital markets become an exciting place and a place to look.

This article will be displayed in August/September 2025 Problem luck The headline says, “Is it safe to go back to the IPO sea?”

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Fintech

chime

Chime Financial is not a bank itself, but it is a fintech that provides banking services to low-income US consumers through a mobile app. It was published in June with a valuation of $11.6 billion. This is less than half of the $25 billion private market chime in 2021, but analysts generally believe they are in better position than the company at the time. It has been criticized for failing to diversify its finances. Much of the revenue from chimes comes from interchanges paid by commissioners who pay when consumers use chime-issued debit or credit cards. There is also plenty of competition from rivals, banks and fintechs that offer similar services. –Louisa Bertrand

Bull Case: The chime continues to grow Sticky User Base Promote and expand product adoption.

Bear Case: Chimes are unable to expand revenue beyond the interchange, with the stock price falling below the $27 IPO level.

Crypto

Round

Crypto may be known for its extreme price shaking as investors enter and exit assets such as Bitcoin and Shiba Inu. However, there are more and more popular options for those who want to be exposed to the sector without buying real cryptocurrencies. Circle is a ridiculous company that issues dollar-backed cryptocurrency, USD Coin (USDC). Ahead of the June IPO, analysts warned that Circle’s core businesses (which earn profits from assets supporting USDC) are not being provided very upwardly. But since then, stocks have been acting like cryptocurrency, with wild volatility including the biggest two-day pop of major inventory since 1980.Leo Schwartz

Bull Case: Circles are benefiting from the wider crypto boom and the prospects of decompression regulations as more companies push for Stablecoin adoption.

Bear Case: Circle’s stock prices continue to return to Earth, and the company continues to struggle with the same revenue and flowing questions.

ai

coreweave (crwv)

CoreWeave’s Tepid IPO made little sense for investors who wanted one of the hottest transactions on the market – AI infrastructure (in the case of CoreWeave, it’s cloud-based). CoreWeave generated roughly $1 billion in revenue in the most recent quarter. nvidia Openai is an investor. In July, they agreed to buy data center provider Core Scientific for $9 billion in stake. In return, it acquires approximately 1.3 gigawatts of power capacity and eliminates long-term lease obligations of over $10 billion. However, CoreWeave is still very useful. Analysts estimated that they had between $12 billion and $17 billion in debt. Losses are increasing, and CoreWeave is heavily dependent Microsoft For profit. –lb

Bull Case: Buying Core Scientific improves your risky CoreWeave and its finances.

Bear Case: AI adoption is slower and CoreWeave is covered under its heavy debt load.

Stock trading

Etro

When Etoro was released in May, investors saw the trading platform’s performance as a sign of whether the FinTech IPO window would be backed up. That stock price came up and the windows were opened, but that doesn’t necessarily make Etro a good investment. As a competitor to Robinhood, Etoro offers app-driven next-generation alternatives for Stodgier brokerage companies like Schwab, offering experimental products such as copy transactions that allow customers to mimic other users’ investment behavior and array of crypto assets.

Bull Case: Etoro can ride the wave of Riskier retail deals, and higher esset interests like Crypto.

Bear Case: The platform cannot gain traction against large rivals like Robinhood and incumbents with heels.