So much for the red hot initial public offering market?

If you've been following the headlines, you might think IPOs are in a massive downturn.

ChatGPT owner OpenAI is considering pushing back its IPO to next year, according to the New York Times. SpaceX shares have tumbled sharply since their debut. And artificial-intelligence chip company Cerebras Systems, after soaring nearly 70% on IPO day, is now below its offering price after its first earnings report failed to live up to the hype.

Investors appear to be once again questioning the stratospheric valuations for companies with significant skin in the AI game. You're seeing it with the pullbacks in semiconductor stocks, despite strong earnings from memory chip leader Micron Technology and optimism about the looming U.S. market debut for its South Korean rival SK Hynix.

As for OpenAI, which was valued at $852 billion in its last round of private financing, it may not be able to justify a market cap of nearly $1 trillion. Not with concerns about how much money it is losing and increased competition from the likes of SpaceX's xAI, Alphabet (the parent of Google and Gemini) and Claude owner Anthropic, which like OpenAI has also filed confidentially for an IPO.

So the reports of OpenAI possibly having second thoughts about pursuing an IPO in the next few months may be more about market worries that OpenAI could become the Netscape or AOL of AI, as opposed to legitimate concerns about the health of the broader market. (Speaking of AOL, an Italian digital media company that bought AOL earlier this year is scheduled to go public next week.)

After all, the Nasdaq is still up nearly 10% this year despite its recent pullback. The index was back in positive territory late Friday morning, after falling earlier in the session as the OpenAI report weighed heavily on tech stocks at the opening bell. What's more, the iShares Semiconductor ETF has doubled this year. Tech investors may be merely taking a breather as opposed to expressing genuine fear and doubt about the health of the tech/AI rally.

So is the IPO market really cooling off? Traders may have a better sense of whether or not the IPO market is slowing down during the week of June 29, when several deals are expected to price. In addition to Bending Spoons, the Milan-based company that now owns AOL, debuts are expected from scooter company Lime, miner CopperTech Metals and engineering firm ITG.

After next week, deal flow may slow during the usually sleepier months of July and August and pick back up again after Labor Day. OpenAI's apparent skittishness about an IPO may turn out to be company specific, and not a sign that the parade of unicorns coming to Wall Street is about to end. Databricks, fintech Stripe, graphic design software developer Canva and smart ring maker Oura could all go public later this year too.

In other words, don't read too much into the possible OpenAI delay. The IPO window isn't shutting just yet.

Write to Paul R. La Monica at paul.lamonica@barrons.com

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June 26, 2026 13:15 ET (17:15 GMT)

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