For private companies and their anxious investors, 2025 delivered what many had feared might never come: a genuine IPO revival. After two years of historically depressed activity, U.S. capital markets sprang back to life with 344 public offerings that raised nearly $53 billion—a 56% surge in volume compared to 2024's tepid totals.

The comeback extended across sectors, geographies, and deal sizes, signaling that the window had truly reopened rather than merely cracking ajar. From the year's blockbuster healthcare offering to eye-popping first-day pops in crypto, 2025 will be remembered as the year the IPO market found its footing again.

The Numbers Tell the Story

By the numbers, 2025's IPO recovery was unmistakable. Through early December, 371 U.S. companies had gone public—significantly outpacing the 266 offerings completed in all of 2024. The pace represented the fastest IPO activity since the 2021 boom, when frothy markets and SPAC mania pushed listings to record levels.

Notably, the revival wasn't just about quantity. The quality of issuers improved meaningfully, with more companies achieving positive or near-positive profitability at the time of listing—a stark contrast to the growth-at-any-cost mindset that defined the 2021 cohort.

SPAC listings also returned with a vengeance, roughly tripling from 57 in 2024 to approximately 140 this year. While far below 2021's peak, the revival suggested that blank-check companies hadn't been relegated to the dustbin of financial history after all.

The Year's Biggest Deals

Several landmark offerings defined 2025's IPO narrative:

Medline Industries captured the crown as the year's largest IPO when the healthcare supply giant went public in mid-December. The offering raised approximately $6.3 billion at a valuation of $54.5 billion, making it the biggest public offering in four years. The deal validated the thesis that the market could still absorb mega-sized offerings when the company and timing were right.

CoreWeave, the AI cloud infrastructure company that pivoted from cryptocurrency mining, went public in April and quickly became a darling of investors betting on AI infrastructure. The company's shares surged on debut as investors piled into its vision of providing specialized computing power for artificial intelligence workloads.

Circle Internet Group, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, delivered one of the year's most eye-catching debuts in June. Shares closed up 168% on the first trading day and later reached highs near $299, demonstrating robust appetite for crypto-adjacent offerings despite regulatory uncertainty.

Figma debuted at a staggering $36.9 billion market capitalization, with its IPO reportedly 12x oversubscribed. The design software company's shares surged 250% on their first day, making it one of the most successful tech IPOs in recent memory.

"What 2025 proved is that the IPO market wasn't broken—it was waiting. Waiting for valuations to reset, for profitability to matter again, and for macro uncertainty to subside. When those conditions aligned, the floodgates opened."

— Head of Equity Capital Markets, Major Investment Bank

AI and Crypto Lead the Charge

Two themes dominated 2025's IPO landscape: artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency.

AI-related offerings commanded premium valuations and saw the strongest aftermarket performance. Companies like CoreWeave benefited from insatiable investor appetite for any exposure to the AI infrastructure buildout, even as questions about long-term profitability lingered.

Cryptocurrency proved to be one of the year's hottest IPO categories, a remarkable turnaround after the sector's 2022 collapse. Beyond Circle, offerings from Bullish Global and other crypto-adjacent companies drew strong demand, suggesting that institutional investors had regained comfort with the asset class.

Q4 Slowdown Clouds the Picture

The year's momentum didn't hold through the fourth quarter. A record-long government shutdown put a temporary halt to SEC filings, causing October to produce just 22 new listings and November to see only 11. December's activity picked up, but the late-year pause raised questions about whether the revival had legs.

Some market observers attributed the slowdown to normal seasonality and the shutdown's procedural impact rather than fundamental weakness. Others warned that rising interest rates and recession fears could dampen 2026's pipeline.

Looking Ahead to 2026

The coming year promises even bigger names entering the public markets. OpenAI, the artificial intelligence pioneer behind ChatGPT, has signaled potential IPO plans that would likely rank among the largest technology offerings in history. Fellow AI company Anthropic is also reportedly exploring a public listing.

Design software giant Canva has told investors it will be "ready" for a late-2026 IPO, adding another potential blockbuster to the calendar.

For investors, 2025's IPO revival offers an encouraging template but also a cautionary tale. The year's best-performing debuts were generally profitable or near-profitable companies with clear business models—a far cry from the speculative fervor that defined 2021. Those who stuck to quality were rewarded; those who chased hype often weren't.

As 2026 approaches, the IPO window appears to remain open—but selectivity will matter more than ever.