Analysis
2026's IPO market has priced 109 offerings raising $146.5 billion through mid-September, putting the year on pace for the strongest US IPO showing since the 2021 boom, per market tracking cited across several trackers. The week of September 20-26 alone produced an unusually dense cluster of pricings -- roughly three dozen globally across US and international exchanges -- spanning AI infrastructure, biopharma and financial-exchange listings.
The deal count tells a slightly different story than the dollar total: 2026 had logged 245 IPOs by September 22, modestly behind the 256 priced by the same date in 2025. A strong aggregate dollar figure paired with a softer deal count means 2026's total is being carried by fewer, larger offerings rather than a broadly deeper market -- consistent with what this week's individual results show, where sector and story appear to matter more than overall market timing in determining which deals price well and which don't.
“The deal count tells a slightly different story than the dollar total: 2026 had logged 245 IPOs by September 22, modestly behind the 256 priced by the same date in 2025.”
Pulse has tracked several of this week's specific outcomes in depth: Ligent Technologies' 19% Hong Kong debut pop on AI-infrastructure demand, Electra Therapeutics' 12% first-day decline despite pricing at its range midpoint, NSE India's muted 0.84% listing gain on a $46 billion valuation, ADARx Pharmaceuticals pricing its upsized offering at the top of its range, and Bamboo Insurance pulling its NYSE listing entirely on pricing day. Firmus's roughly $5 billion ASX listing and Oura's expected September 29 pricing ahead of a September 30 Nasdaq debut are the next tests of whether this window keeps rewarding genuine AI and health-data exposure the way it rewarded Ligent this week.