IPO activity post-pandemic has fluctuated significantly, primarily driven by economic uncertainty, rising interest rates, and inflation, all of which have impacted investor sentiment.
But the tide has shifted in a positive direction over the past few years, with 2026’s lineup, which includes SpaceX SPCX and Anthropic, likely the most exciting year we’ve seen in decades concerning debuts.
Don’t Forget About Anthropic
Anthropic has officially submitted its confidential draft S-1 prospectus with the SEC, setting up one of the largest tech IPOs in history. The company is expected to target a valuation clearing $1 trillion, building on the momentum of a massive Series H funding round that valued it at $965 billion.
The public listing is anticipated to potentially come as early as this fall, likely reflecting the biggest market story of the back half of 2026. The company's enterprise-focused AI ecosystem is its primary growth engine, with annualized revenue skyrocketing to a staggering $47 billion.
Notably, Anthropic is solidifying its position as a dominant force in corporate AI and critical infrastructure. Driven by the commercial success of enterprise tools like Claude Code, the company is scaling aggressively. To sustain this explosive compute demand, Anthropic has also secured a massive $15 billion-a-year data center lease with SpaceX alongside cloud partnerships with Amazon and Google.
SpaceX Soars
SpaceX SPCX has officially debuted, with shares soaring post-IPO. The appetite for exposure among investors has been notably fierce, as displayed by the recent price action. The company's Starlink satellite internet segment is its primary profit engine, with over 10 million subscribers.
Notably, SpaceX is aggressively transforming into an AI and infrastructure giant. After absorbing Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI in a stock-based deal earlier this year, SpaceX spent a staggering $12.7 billion on AI infrastructure in 2025 alone. It is also partnering with Tesla on a chip-making project called ‘Terafab’ to build its own AI hardware.
By combining orbital dominance with cutting-edge artificial intelligence, SpaceX is positioning itself as more than just a space exploration company. It is positioning itself as the infrastructure layer for the future of computing, both on Earth and beyond.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).