rewrite this title and make it good for SEOGoldman expects 100 IPOs totalling $160 billion will come to market in 2026 By Investing.com

Investing.com — Despite recent volatility, there has been a rebound in the broader equities market, evidenced by the ongoing investor appetite for new issuance. According to Goldman Sachs, there will be 100 IPOs totalling $160 billion launched in 2026.

While the firm had previously forecast 120 IPOs totalling $160 billion, and its IPO barometer now suggests 136 IPO launches, firm analysts have observed that geopolitical uncertainty and recent equity market volatility will translate into fewer IPOs.

In a note addressing common client questions on potential impending mega IPOs, Goldman analyst Ben Snider notes that the average 2026 IPO has jumped 19% on the first trading day—in line with the median historical return.

The trend has been for strong first-day rallies followed by below-average returns in subsequent months.

Over the first 3 weeks of Q2, the average first-day return for the eight IPOs launched has been 27%; this is above the historical median and the average first-day return over Q1 which was 16%.

The IPO pipeline is robust with company managements expressing cautious optimism and Goldman’s IPO barometer delivering supportive signals.

Another headwind this year is the 20% concentration of the IPO backlog from 2025 in Software. While several large private companies are going to go public this year, the 2026 IPO forecasts face risks on account of the uncertain timing and magnitude of these large IPOs.

“53 companies have filed to go public YTD, more than double the amount during the comparable period last year. Although the substantial weight of Software stocks in the IPO backlog remains a downside risk to IPO activity, none of the 19 companies filing for IPO since early April have been Software companies,” said Snider.

Among the mega IPOs coming in 2026 is SpaceX with a public listing at a potential valuation of over $1.75 trillion after the company merged with the artificial intelligence startup xAI. Reuters noted that the deal values the rocket company at $1 trillion and the developer of the Grok chatbot at $250 billion.

On SpaceX’s analyst day on April 21, it was announced that the company’s trading debut will come in late June, and it is looking to raise $75 billion. This will be the world’s biggest IPO.

The best performing IPOs, both recently and in recent decades, have been those companies that have had a short path to profitability.