Blog — 12 Jul, 2026
Mega-Deals Push H1 2026 U.S. Equity Issuance into Orbit
Market Overview
U.S. equity new issuance shifted into a new gear in the first half of 2026, as a wave of multi-billion-dollar deals built upon the strong momentum of 2025 with a staggering $307.7 billion in aggregate proceeds being raised. To put that into perspective, the proceeds raised in the first six months of the year alone would rank as the fourth-highest total for any full year since 2001. Overall, 585 deals (192 IPOs, 354 FOs, 39 CVTs) were priced in H1 2026, raising the second-most proceeds for a first-half period since at least 2001, behind only the $376.1 billion raised from 1,242 deals during 2021, a pandemic driven anomaly year. While deal volume was robust, the story of the half was the sheer size of the deals that came to market, which surged 124.0% compared to the first half of 2025’s $137.4 billion.
This significant jump in proceeds correlated with the average deal size nearly doubling year-over-year to $525.9 million from $274.2 million in H1 2025. This was driven by the rise of mega-deals, with seven offerings raising $5.0 billion or more. Headlining this trend was an 'out of this world' IPO from Space Exploration Technologies Corp., which raised $86.2 billion, nearly three and a half times larger than Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s $25.0 billion IPO in 2014. Even excluding SpaceX’s IPO, the market remained exceptionally strong, with the remaining deals still bringing in $221.4 billion in proceeds, 61.2% higher than H1 2025.
The year began with 284 deals in Q1, up marginally from the 277 in Q4 2025 and above the 217 deals seen in Q1 2025. Excluding 2021, Q1 2026 marked the most active Q1 since 314 deals priced in Q1 2015. Following the strong starts in January and February, which had 94 and 115 deals, respectively, March saw volumes fall to 75 deals due to increased market volatility with rise of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. This uneasiness lingered into April, with volumes rising by 9.3% to 82 deals. Heading into May, markets began to stabilize, and volumes surged into the triple digits with 106 and 113 deals in May and June, respectively. This late-quarter surge was defined by the rise of mega-deals with seven of the top 10 largest offerings of the first half pricing in May and June. This surge pushed Q2 proceeds to $227.2 billion, nearly three times the capital raised in Q1, and was anchored by the SpaceX listing, setting the stage for a strong year in the IPO space.
IPOs
The U.S. IPO market also carried its momentum into the new year, with 192 IPOs (including SPACs) pricing in the first half of 2026, a 14.3% increase from the 168 offerings in H1 2025. Together, these offerings raised a combined $153.3 billion in proceeds, but the primary driver of the 428.1% year-over-year surge was the landmark public debut of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. SpaceX raised $86.2 billion, accounting for 56.2% of all IPO proceeds raised during the first six months of the year. To put its size into perspective, the $86.2 billion raised by the SpaceX IPO alone would rank as the fourth-largest year for total IPO proceeds since at least 2001, single-handedly raising more than all IPOs combined in 22 of the last 25 full years.
Although the SpaceX deal garnered much of the attention, the broader IPO market still recorded its second most active first half since 2001, trailing only 2021. The remaining non-SpaceX IPOs raised a combined $67.1 billion in proceeds, which represents a 131.0% increase over the $29.0 billion in total IPO proceeds raised in the first half of 2025. This resurgence in volume was heavily driven by SPAC issuers with 118 deals raising $23.4 billion. Notably, these SPACs accounted for 61.5% of the first half’s total IPOs, surpassing the 60.8% mark set in H1 2021 to become the most SPAC-heavy first half in at least 25 years.
In contrast to the surge in SPACs, the traditional IPO market saw a decrease in deal volume, with 74 non-SPAC debuts marking a notable decline from the 102 seen in H1 2025 and 78 in H1 2024. However, despite the decline in deal volume, the proceeds from these offerings soared 164.3% year-over-year to $43.7 billion (excluding SpaceX). The average non-SPAC IPO size nearly quadrupled to $598.7 million from the $162.1 million average seen in H1 2025, fueled by multi-billion-dollar deals. The first half saw five traditional offerings generate over $2.0 billion in proceeds, marking the second-most for a first-half period since at least 2001. When including the SpaceX IPO, the first half's total of six such deals matched the record set during H1 2021. Furthermore, of the 12 traditional IPOs to raise over $1.0 billion, the Technology and Industrials sectors accounted for five deals each. This trend was led by a few notable debuts, including a $6.4 billion offering from AI hardware firm Cerebras Systems Inc. and a $2.8 billion debut from industrial technology company INNIO N.V.
Looking at pricing performance, traditional IPOs improved year-over-year, with an average gain of 18.9% on their first day of trading, up from the 15.3% average seen in H1 2025. Nearly three-quarters (73.0%) of companies priced their IPOs within their initial filing range, with 10 pricing above and 10 pricing below their initial filing ranges. First day performance was led by the Technology sector, which saw an average first-day gain of 44.5%, led by Swarmer, Inc., which surged over 520% in its market debut. Healthcare followed closely with an average first day rise of 27.7%, as Veradermics, Inc. and Hemab Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. jumped 122.1% and 88.9%, respectively. The first half’s largest offering, SpaceX, also posted a strong showing, delivering a solid 19.2% first-day return for investors. The second largest IPO of the year, Cerebras Systems, priced at $185 per share, the largest offer price for an IPO since at least 2001, surpassing the $155 offer price from monday.com Ltd. in June 2021, and had a strong first day performance, rising 68.1%.
Follow-Ons
Continuing the trend as the primary driver of deal volume, follow-on offerings accounted for 60.5% of all deals in the first half. The year started strong with 174 follow-ons pricing in Q1, a notable increase from the 170 in Q4 2025 and the 127 in Q1 2025. However, mirroring the market's broader volatility, April saw activity slow to just 46 deals, the slowest month for follow-on issuance since April 2025. The market quickly regained its footing and finished strong, with 69 deals and 65 deals in May and June, respectively. Overall, 180 deals priced in Q2, marking the ninth most active second quarter since 2001. This late-quarter surge, which pushed follow-on proceeds for the first half to $112.4 billion, was driven by the arrival of several mega-deals, led by two offerings from Alphabet Inc. that raised a combined $20.7 billion in proceeds.
From a sector perspective, Healthcare was the dominant source of deal volume, pricing 142 follow-on offerings in the first half, nearly three times the next closest sector, Industrials with 52 deals. While Technology led all sectors in proceeds with $32.1 billion due to the Alphabet offerings, Healthcare's widespread activity helped it secure the second-place spot with $30.5 billion. Following the theme of large-scale deals in 2026, eleven deals raised $2.0 billion or more in proceeds, while another eight raised $1.0 billion or more. These offerings pushed the average follow-on deal size to $317.6 million, the highest for the first half period since 2009’s $409.3 million. Of the 19 follow-on deals that raised over $1.0 billion, Technology led with five such deals, followed by Utilities and Industrials with four apiece. These are highlighted by offerings from Medline Inc.’s March offering ($3.5 billion) from Healthcare, SanDisk Corp. ($3.2 billion) from Technology, and Constellation Energy Corporation ($3.1 billion) from Utilities. Despite their size, pricing discounts to last sale remained modest: Alphabet’s two follow-ons each at 1.8%, Constellation Energy at 2.4%, and Medline and SanDisk at 7.6% and 7.7%, respectively.
Convertibles
As with IPOs and follow-ons, multi-billion-dollar deals drove up proceeds for convertible offerings to $41.9 billion, the third-highest first-half proceeds total since at least 2001, trailing only 2020 ($67.3 billion) and 2021 ($57.0 billion). This marked a 57.5% year-over-year increase from $26.6 billion, despite a slight decline in deal volume to 39 deals from 41 in H1 2025. Overall, five convertible deals surpassed the $2.0 billion mark, two of which came from Alphabet Inc., raising a combined $19.3 billion. In addition, the Technology sector accounted for two more multi-billion-dollar deals from Oracle Corp. and Super Micro Computer, Inc., which raised $5.0 billion and $3.8 billion, respectively. These four deals accounted for 66.9% of all proceeds raised and pushed Technology's total to $30.4 billion, representing over 72% of all convertible proceeds. Outside the Technology sector, utilities company NextEra Energy, Inc. had the fifth-largest convertible offering of the year, raising $2.3 billion in proceeds during Q1.
Conclusion
The first half of 2026 closed with $307.7 billion in proceeds, the second-highest first-half total since 2001, trailing only the pandemic-era surge of 2021. Beyond the topline number, the new issuance market proved remarkably resilient, navigating volatile conditions and geopolitical tensions to price 22 multi-billion-dollar deals, the most for a first half in at least 25 years. Activity peaked in June, which welcomed nine of these offerings, highlighted by the $86.2 billion IPO from Space Exploration Technologies Corp. With this strong momentum, all eyes now turn to the second half of the year and the next wave of highly anticipated public debuts from AI giants such as OpenAI and Anthropic.
Data Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence | Equity Deals Database. Data includes deals that priced on a U.S. Exchange and excludes closed-end funds and PIPE deals.