Tech IPO market is finally showing signs of life

The IPO market has repeatedly tricked investors into believing it's reopening after an extended drought dating back to early 2022. There are, once again, signs of hope.

Shares of stock brokerage platform eToro jumped nearly 29% in their Nasdaq debut on Wednesday after the Israel-based company priced its IPO above the expected range. That same day, in its first earnings report as a public company, artificial intelligence infrastructure provider CoreWeave reported 420% revenue growth, topping estimates.

CoreWeave shares rocketed about 60% this week and have doubled in value since the company's March IPO.

It's a big momentum swing from a month ago.

Early in President Donald Trump's second White House term, bankers and venture investors were bullish on a reinvigorated IPO market. But after the rollout and subsequent pause of President Trump's sweeping tariff policy rocked the market in April, companies including online lender Klarna and ticket marketplace StubHub delayed their long-awaited offerings.

Exits for venture firms in the first quarter hit their highest quarterly value since the fourth quarter of 2021, but nearly 40% came from the CoreWeave IPO, according to the National Venture Capital Association and PitchBook.

"Although we anticipated a resurgence in IPO activity as the year progressed, that outlook has diminished due to the imposed tariffs," the NVCA and PitchBook wrote in their first-quarter report in mid-April. "As public market investors shift toward less risky investments, many VC-backed companies may struggle to generate the demand necessary to meet their high market valuations."

The second quarter is seeing more action.

While Klarna and StubHub haven't provided updates, and both companies declined to comment for this story, eToro was another company that had put its plans temporarily on hold. Its successful debut this week could encourage others to follow.

Fintech company Chime on Tuesday filed its prospectus to go public on the Nasdaq, after it had delayed IPO plans following the tariffs announcement. Digital health company Omada Health filed to go public last week. 

"The market is going to come back," Rachel Gerring, Ernst & Young's Americas IPO Leader, told CNBC. "It's just a matter of when. It's not a matter of if." 

Gerring said optimism has started to rebound. Part of that is tied to Trump's 90-day pause on its most stringent trade policies, and a drastic reduction on tariffs from China in the meantime.

However, there's still plenty of uncertainty, which Gerring said can be difficult for companies to manage, especially as they're preparing to hit the market. She's advising clients to focus on preparedness so they're able to capitalize on the market when the time is right.

In digital health, all eyes next week will be on Hinge Health.

The virtual physical therapy company filed its initial prospectus in March. Hinge updated the document this week with an expected pricing range of $28 to $32, which would value the company at about $2.4 billion in the middle of the range, not including some of its potential outstanding shares.

Digital health has been a particularly tough market over the last few years, following a Covid-era pop, when consumers and patients shifted to virtual solutions. Growth has since slowed dramatically.

AI is a different story, and chipmaker Cerebras provided an update of sorts this week.

Cerebras filed to go public in September, but the process was slowed down due to a review by the Treasury Department's Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., or CFIUS. Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman said Thursday at a company event that his "aspiration" is to take the chipmaker public this year now that it's obtained necessary clearance from the committee.

And digital assets company Galax Digital started trading on the Nasdaq Friday, switching over from the Toronto Stock Exchange. The New York-based firm went public in Canada in 2020 as U.S. regulators were wary of crypto. 

Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz said the switch will help "enable us to attract a broader investor base," according to a release. 

Still, for tech IPO activity to really pick up, more large-scale, growth-oriented companies need to come to market, Gerring said. 

"The IPO market might be one of the latter ones to return as the market starts to recover, just given the risk around IPOs," Gerring said. "We're trending in the right direction."

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