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IPO activity remains low in early 2025 despite recent high-profile debuts and filings
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May 2025 saw the lowest number of IPO filings in six months, continuing a slow trend
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Optimism for a stronger IPO market in the second half of the year hinges on market stability and potential interest rate cuts
Optimism Remains Despite Lackluster IPO Activity Thus Far in 2025
The muted IPO market which has become commonplace in the last few years continued in that fashion through the first five months of 2025. However, the last few weeks has brought a renewed focus to dealmaking after a couple of highly anticipated IPOs began trading, and a cryptocurrency unicorn filed to IPO.
Recently, MNTN and Hinge Health made their public debuts to much fanfare. On May 21, adtech platform MNTN went public at $16 a share, putting its valuation at $1.2B, the high end of analyst estimates. The following day, digital physical therapy company, Hinge Health, made their debut. Shares were priced at $32, at the high end of the expected range, denoting a valuation of $2.6B. Both companies had tremendous first day results, with MNTN shares popping 65% and Hinge Health up 17%.
Last week the IPO buzz continued when stablecoin issuer Circle announced it is readying itself for a public debut. The company looks to raise about $624M at a $5.65B valuation. They plan to sell 24M shares of common stock at an expected range of $24-$26 per share, but no official trading date has been announced. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency that is pegged to another currency such as gold to maintain a stable price. The announcement comes as stablecoins are more frequently in the news cycle, with a recent report suggesting Meta (NASDAQ:META) is eyeing potential stablecoin partners as it looks to give users crypto support.Bitcoin is also on a run, hurtling over $111,000 on May 22.
May 2025: Lowest IPO Filings Total (EPA:TTEF) in 6 Months
Despite that fanfare, May only saw ten companies announce plans to go public, the slowest month since December 2024 recorded only 9 IPO filings. This has also been the lightest two month start to a quarter in a year with only 38 filings vs. Q2 2024 which saw 35 filings.
Source: Wall Street Horizon, Data Licensed from IPOScoop
The decision to go public has been somewhat tumultuous in 2025 as macroeconomic uncertainty and stubbornly high interest rates led to some high profile IPO delays earlier in the year. Since then however, those on the sidelines such as Chime Financial, Circle, Hinge Health and Stubhub have either already made their debut or announced plans to do so. Klarna is one of the big holdouts, further delaying their long-awaited IPO to later in the year.
The Much Anticipated Return to Dealmaking Continues to Stall
Beyond the Trump tariff market turmoil in 2025 and high interest rates, there may be other reasons why private companies have been timid about going public. One potential explanation could be that many IPO debuts in the last couple of years haven’t gone so well for the companies making them. In aggregate, companies that went public in 2024 returned 8%, significantly underperforming major indexes such as the S&P 500 which was up 25% and the Nasdaq Composite which was up 35% for the year.
Another reason for lighter IPO numbers as of late could be the availability of private capital. Mega startups such as Stripe, OpenAI and SpaceX have delayed the need to go public by raising huge sums of private capital, often from major international institutions.
The Bottom-Line
While dealmaking activity remains light in 2025, there is hope that a big IPO could jump-start the market. Optimism for new listings remains high as technology trends like AI and crypto have made significant progress. The major indices have been on a 6 day run due to certain tariff pauses and the blocking of some of the steepest tariffs by federal judges. If markets can remain resilient and the Federal Reserve begins to cut interest rates at their July meeting as currently expected, then perhaps that opens the window for stronger IPO activity in the second half of the year.