SAN FRANCISCO — The long-dormant IPO market has erupted back to life in 2026 with a ferocity that has veterans of the 2021 SPAC boom experiencing flashbacks — except this time, the companies going public are actually profitable. Stripe's $120 billion debut in March, Databricks' $85 billion listing in May, and SpaceX's $250 billion public offering in June have combined to make H1 2026 the biggest six-month period for technology IPOs by capital raised in history.

Stripe's IPO was particularly noteworthy for what it signaled about the maturation of fintech. The payments processor reported $15 billion in annual revenue with 25% net margins before going public — numbers that silenced skeptics who had questioned whether any fintech company could match the unit economics of traditional financial institutions. The stock has risen 38% since listing. Databricks, the data analytics and AI platform, reported $4 billion in revenue growing at 55% annually and, critically, positive free cash flow.

The pipeline for the second half of 2026 is equally ambitious. Klarna, Discord, Chime, and Reddit's long-rumored second listing attempt are all in various stages of registration. Investment bankers, who spent 2023 and 2024 in what one described as "an existential crisis of deal inactivity," are suddenly working seven-day weeks. Total tech IPO proceeds in H1 2026 exceeded $80 billion, more than all of 2024 and 2025 combined. The window appears wide open — the question is how long favorable market conditions will persist.