By Evan Coffey on June 4, 2026June 4, 2026 For the first time in years, the IPO market is generating legitimate buzz rather than cautious optimism. The second half of 2026 is shaping up to be the most consequential listing window since the peak IPO years of the last decade when Facebook, Twitter, Alibaba, Uber, and Snowflake all made their public market debuts. The biggest difference this time around is that the companies coming to market are the defining assets of the AI era and the most iconic private company in the world. Three names sit at the center of this narrative: SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic. Together, they represent a combined implied valuation north of $3 trillion. The capital demands alone could reshape public market dynamics for the next 12 to 18 months. Here is where each one stands. SpaceX: First Out of the Gate SpaceX is the most advanced of the group by a considerable margin. The company filed its S-1 with the SEC on May 20, 2026, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley serving as the lead underwriters on a 23-bank syndicate. The roadshow kicked off June 4th, with pricing scheduled for June 11th and a Nasdaq debut under ticker SPCX targeted for June 12th. At a $1.75 trillion target valuation and a $75 billion fundraising goal, this would be the largest IPO in history. SpaceX’s financial story is straightforward on the surface. The company generated $18.5 billion in revenue in 2025, though the bottom line tells a different story. A $4.94 billion net loss, as Starship development costs, xAI integration, and infrastructure buildout weighed on GAAP earnings. The bull case rests almost entirely on Starlink, its satellite internet division, which accounts for roughly 61 percent of revenue and is the only consistently profitable segment. Starlink crossed 10 million subscribers in early 2026, with projected revenue of approximately $15.9 billion and adjusted EBITDA approaching $11 billion. The bear case for SpaceX is the governance structure. Elon Musk and insiders retain dominant voting control, with public shareholders being structurally minority voices. The S-1 also disclosed that SpaceX is leasing approximately 325,000 Nvidia GPUs to Anthropic through its Colossus facilities in Memphis, with the arrangement potentially expiring after six months, making it material but temporary compute revenue. And then there’s the compensation structure. Musk’s pay package, which includes 1 billion performance-based restricted shares, vesting in 15 tranches, requires two conditions to unlock. First, a specified market-cap milestone of $7.5 trillion and second, the establishment of a permanent colony on Mars with at least one million inhabitants. Simple right. The prospectus reads, in plain terms, “We do not want humans to have the same fate as dinosaurs.” Public investors are being asked to fund a company whose CEO’s full compensation is legitimately contingent on colonizing another planet. To me, that’s either the most ambitious incentive structure ever written into a securities filing, or a governance red flag dressed up as a mission statement. OpenAI: The Name Everyone Wants OpenAI has filed confidentially for an IPO, with CEO Sam Altman targeting public debut by September or Q4 of this year. The headline valuation figure being discussed is approximately $1 trillion, which if achieved, would rank among the largest market caps of any company ever at the time of listing. The revenue trajectory for OpenAI is astounding. OpenAI went from roughly $2 billion in annualized revenue in 2023 to over $20 billion by the end of 2025. ChatGPT surpassed 900 million weekly active users as of early 2026. These are not incremental numbers. Nonetheless, the financials cut both ways. For full-year 2025, OpenAI generated $13.1 billion in revenue while burning through approximately $22 billion – a net loss of roughly $9 billion. Internal projections point to a $14 billion operating loss in 2026, with profitability not expected until approximately 2029 or 2030. OpenAI faces a significant funding gap with the company committing hundreds of billions in compute infrastructure over the next several years that its current revenue base cannot cover. The IPO, by most readings, is less a victory lap than a capital necessity. Public markets are the only pool deep enough to fund the compute infrastructure commitments OpenAI has already made. Continuing the trend, governance adds a layer of complexity for OpenAI as well. Altman’s equity stake remains listed as “TBD” in the filing. This is an unusual disclosure for the CEO of a company targeting a $1 trillion valuation. The nonprofit-to-public-benefit-corporation restructuring completed in late 2025 resolved one overhang, and the dismissal of Elon Musk’s lawsuit cleared another. Even so, investors are being asked to price a loss-making entity at a 65x P/S multiple, with limited historical financial transparency. Anthropic: The Quiet Frontrunner Anthropic filed its S-1 confidentially on June 1, 2026. The target listing window is October of this year, with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan expected as the lead underwriters. Its most recently confirmed post-money valuation was $380 billion, set at the $30 billion Series G that closed in February 2026, though a series H funding round closing May 28 reportedly pushed the implied valuation to approximately $965 billion in some secondary market estimates. What distinguishes Anthropic from OpenAI is the profitability picture. Revenue has compounded at a rate few software companies have ever sustained. At the end of 2025 the estimated annual revenue figure was $9 billion. This estimate became $44 billion by May of this year. More strikingly, the company is reportedly on track to post its first operating profit at approximately $559 million in Q2 2026. Claude Code alone is generating $2.5 billion in annualized billings. Eight of the Fortune 10 are reportedly Claude customers. The ownership structure of Anthropic adds a layer of complexity that deserves more than just a footnote. Google and Amazon, two of the largest tech companies in the world and direct competitors in the AI space, are the two largest outside backers. Both carry meaningful antitrust exposure as Anthropic transitions to public markets. Public investors would be buying into a company where the two biggest shareholders have their own competing agendas. The valuation and revenue figures along with the profitability claims have never faced the scrutiny of a public filing. Whether the numbers hold up come October is the real question. The Bigger Picture SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic are the headliners, but they are far from alone. The broader 2026 IPO pipeline is the most loaded in quite some time. Anduril, the AI-powered defense company founded by Palmer Lucky, closed a $5 billion Series H in May at $61 billion valuation and confirmed a public listing roadmap. Databricks, the data and AI platform growing revenue north of 65% year over year at a $134 billion valuation, has signaled a 2026 listing is possible. Klarna and Shein are also in the queue, representing fintech and e-commerce, respectively. Taken together, the combined fundraising across this wave of listings could approach or exceed $200 billion, a level of supply that public markets have never been asked to absorb in a single offering cycle. For investors, the central question is not whether these are great companies. Most of them are and likely will continue on a positive trajectory. The question is what valuation leaves room for public market investors to generate returns or whether the private market captured the majority of the upside years ago. These listings will test appetite for loss-making businesses at historic multiples, governance structures that favor insiders and CEOs, and revenue figures that have yet to face the scrutiny of audited public financials. The second half of 2026 will tell us a great deal about where the market draws the line in this new era of IPOs. Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Investment advice offered through Great Valley Advisor Group (GVA), a Registered Investment Advisor. I am solely an investment advisor representative of Great Valley Advisor Group, and not affiliated with LPL Financial. Any opinions or views expressed by me are not those of LPL Financial. This is not intended to be used as tax or legal advice. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly. Please consult a tax or legal professional for specific information and advice. LPL Compliance Tracking #1119679. Evan Coffey Associate, Asset Management Evan is an Associate on GVA’s Asset Management Team. He specializes in investment research and has a passion for finance and economics. Evan uses his strong work ethic and financial literacy to help manage GVA’s multi-asset portfolios, mitigate risk, and help coordinate wholesaler relationships. See Full Bio