After years of record-low IPO activity, the floodgates may finally be opening. A wave of tech giants — many of them shaped by the artificial intelligence boom — are expected to make their public market debuts in 2026, and the numbers being discussed are staggering. Analysts are calling this the strongest IPO environment since 2021, driven by steadier interest rates, recovering stock markets, and a massive backlog of private companies under pressure to deliver liquidity to investors.
Here is a look at the most anticipated public offerings of the year.
OpenAI — The Potential Trillion-Dollar Listing
No IPO is generating more buzz than OpenAI. The company behind ChatGPT is widely considered the defining name of the generative AI era, and its public debut — expected in late 2026 or early 2027 — could rank among the largest in stock market history. Analysts have floated valuations ranging from $500 billion to $1 trillion, which would place OpenAI among the most valuable companies ever to list on a public exchange. CEO Sam Altman has admitted he is not personally eager to run a public company, but the sheer capital requirements of scaling frontier AI infrastructure may ultimately leave little choice.
SpaceX — Aiming for the Largest IPO Ever
Elon Musk has confirmed that reports of a potential 2026 SpaceX offering are accurate. The company is targeting a valuation of approximately $1.5 trillion — which would make it the largest IPO in history by a wide margin. Unlike many tech companies that go public before reaching profitability, SpaceX is already generating significant revenue from Starlink subscriptions and government launch contracts. Proceeds from the offering are expected to fund Starship’s development, AI data centers in space, and the company’s long-term goal of establishing a permanent base on the Moon.
Stripe — The Fintech Giant That Keeps Delaying
Stripe has been the subject of IPO speculation for years, and 2026 may finally be the year it happens. The payments infrastructure company processed $1.9 trillion in transactions in 2025 — a 34% increase — and returned to profitability in 2024. Its valuation has climbed above $100 billion. The company describes itself as the financial operating system for AI agents, a framing that resonates strongly with the current market environment.
Anthropic and Canva — AI and Design Go Public
Anthropic, the AI safety company behind the Claude model family, is in the early stages of planning a public offering after raising $30 billion at a $380 billion valuation in early 2026. Analysts project its run-rate revenue could grow sevenfold between 2025 and 2028. Meanwhile, Australian design platform Canva — valued at $42 billion in private markets and boasting 240 million monthly users — is considered one of the most likely near-term IPO candidates as it pivots toward enterprise AI tools.
Other Names to Watch
The 2026 pipeline also includes Databricks (AI data infrastructure, valued at around $134 billion), Discord (the gaming and community platform that confidentially filed with the SEC in January), Cohere (enterprise AI, targeting large corporations with privacy-first deployments), and crypto exchange Kraken, which is targeting a Nasdaq debut. Together, these companies represent a once-in-a-generation reshaping of public markets.
