When Medline Industries rang the opening bell on the Nasdaq on December 17, 2025, it wasn't just another healthcare company going public. It was a watershed moment for the IPO market—the largest initial public offering in four years and a resounding vote of confidence in the durability of American healthcare infrastructure.

The Northfield, Illinois-based medical supply company raised $6.3 billion by selling more than 216 million shares at $29 each. By the closing bell, those shares had rocketed to $41, a 41% gain that valued the company at roughly $54 billion. It was the kind of first-day performance that IPO investors dream about—and that had been conspicuously absent from public markets for much of the past three years.

A Return to Form for the IPO Market

Medline's offering eclipsed every other IPO of 2025 and stands as the largest U.S. listing since electric vehicle maker Rivian raised $13.7 billion in November 2021. That comparison is telling. Rivian's IPO came at the peak of the pandemic-era market euphoria, when investors threw money at anything with a compelling growth story. The subsequent crash in growth stocks and the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes froze the IPO market for nearly two years.

Medline's success suggests that freeze has definitively thawed. But unlike the speculative offerings of 2021, this IPO was grounded in something old-fashioned: profits.

"This isn't a growth-at-all-costs story. Medline is a real business with real earnings that has been operating for nearly six decades."

— Healthcare analyst at a major investment bank

The Business Behind the Blockbuster

Founded in 1966, Medline manufactures and distributes approximately 335,000 different medical and surgical supplies—everything from surgical gloves and face masks to wheelchairs and hospital beds. The company operates in more than 100 countries and employs over 43,000 workers worldwide.

What sets Medline apart from many healthcare companies is its diversified customer base. While hospitals represent its largest market, the company also serves nursing homes, surgery centers, physician offices, and home care providers. This breadth proved invaluable during the pandemic when certain healthcare segments surged while others collapsed.

The Private Equity Play

Medline's path to public markets runs through some of the biggest names in private equity. In 2021, a consortium led by Blackstone, Carlyle Group, and Hellman & Friedman paid $34 billion to acquire a majority stake in the company—at the time, the largest leveraged buyout in healthcare history.

The timing proved challenging. Rising interest rates increased the cost of servicing the debt used to finance the acquisition, while concerns about tariffs on products manufactured in Asia—where much of Medline's supply chain is concentrated—created uncertainty about future margins.

The company initially planned to go public earlier in 2025 but postponed the offering amid the spring tariff chaos. The successful December listing suggests those concerns have either abated or were priced into the offering.

What the Offering Tells Us About 2026

Medline's blockbuster debut arrives at a pivotal moment for capital markets. The IPO pipeline is packed with companies waiting to test public markets, including high-profile names like SpaceX and OpenAI that could dwarf even Medline's offering.

The enthusiastic reception suggests institutional investors are ready to put money to work in new listings—but they're being selective. Medline offered something that many IPO candidates cannot: a track record of profitability, a dominant market position, and exposure to the essential and growing healthcare sector.

Key Factors Behind the Success

  • Essential business model: Medical supplies are non-discretionary purchases that healthcare providers need regardless of economic conditions
  • Scale advantages: As the largest medical supply distributor in the U.S., Medline has purchasing power and logistics capabilities that smaller competitors cannot match
  • Diversified revenue: Exposure to multiple healthcare settings reduces dependence on any single customer segment
  • Proven management: The Mills family, which founded the company, remains involved in its leadership

The Road Ahead

Despite the celebratory first day, challenges remain. The same tariff concerns that delayed the IPO haven't disappeared—roughly 20% of the company's products are sourced from China, and the effective tariff rate on Chinese goods now exceeds 47%. Rising labor costs and potential healthcare reimbursement changes under the new administration add additional uncertainty.

But for investors who got in at the IPO price—or even at the first-day close—Medline represents something increasingly rare in public markets: a dominant company in an essential industry with a proven business model. In a market that spent 2025 obsessing over AI and speculative growth stories, sometimes the best investment is the company that makes the surgical gloves.

The private equity backers who bought Medline for $34 billion in 2021 are now sitting on stakes worth considerably more. The Mills family, which sold that majority stake but retained significant ownership, has seen its remaining shares appreciate dramatically. And the IPO market itself has been reinvigorated by proof that there's still appetite for well-run companies seeking public capital.

As 2026 approaches with a full pipeline of IPO candidates, Medline's success will serve as both a template and a challenge. The bar has been set. Now we'll see how many other companies can clear it.