Companies raised more than $1 trillion in global equity markets for only the second time ever over the first nine months of the year, yet higher borrowing costs and artificial-intelligence fears are dampening spirits, a Mergermarket report said. Finnish smart-ring maker Oura postponed its public offering last month blaming “uncertainty in the IPO market,” joining Soft Bank-backed SB Energy and others in delaying plans. Markets had expected a strong third quarter after Space X’s record-breaking IPO in June, but Federal Reserve tightening and multidecade highs in Treasury yields have soured the mood. “The spike in yields has caused everyone to take a breath,” said Samuel Kerr, Mergermarket’s head of global equity capital markets.
Despite quarterly weakness, 2026 remains on track to be a banner year for equity capital markets, with $1.08 trillion raised across 5,566 deals in the first nine months—surpassing full-year totals from the past four years. The average fundraising size was much larger than in 2021, the highest-volume year on record. However, the market is exceptionally AI-focused, with technology deals making up nearly half of all equity capital market deals in the third quarter.
South Korean memory chip maker SK Hynix’s $26.5 billion listing and Intel’s $23 billion capital raise dwarfed all others. Smaller companies are being crowded out, including the possible November listing of frontier AI model maker Anthropic. “The current concern around AI is probably the biggest thing that’s caused people to take a beat,” said Danny Tricot, head of European capital markets at Skadden. He noted that fears about investor returns, not market conditions, ultimately slow public listings.
Companies also don’t feel pressured to go public given the ready availability of private capital.
Source: Wall Street Journal Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing