Our final replace on Nasdaq’s U.S. and Stockholm IPO Pulses was on April 10 — the day after the Liberation Day tariffs have been suspended for 90 days till July 9 (since prolonged to August 1).
At the moment, the Nasdaq-100® and the S&P 500 had simply bounced from their lows for the 12 months and have been nonetheless about 15% off their earlier highs.
A falling inventory market and elevated volatility weighed on the IPO Pulses, pushing our U.S. and Stockholm IPO Pulses into downturns, signaling fewer IPOs forward.
In fact, the downturn within the Nasdaq IPO Pulse wasn’t simply about tariffs.
The IPO Pulse truly peaked final October and has been slowing since then. However the downturn actually accelerated in March and April because the inventory market offered off, with the IPO Pulse falling to a 1½-year low in April (chart under, blue line).
108 U.S. IPOs in H1 2025
U.S. IPO exercise slowed solely modestly in Q2 2025 to 50 working firms from 58 in Q1.
Mixed, the 108 working firms IPOs within the first half (inexperienced bars) marks the third strongest first half within the final 10 years, trailing solely 2018 and 2021. And H1 capital raised elevated 40% year-on-year to $27bn!
Briefly, IPO exercise was truly comparatively robust to begin 2025 in comparison with latest years (particularly if we exclude the zero-interest price interval after Covid).
Chart 1: After falling to a 1½-year low in April, the Nasdaq IPO Pulse has elevated for 2 months
U.S. IPO exercise was broad-based throughout sectors
IPO exercise was additionally broad-based, with 10 out of 11 sectors having at the least one IPO. And 6 sectors had at the least 10 IPOs, led by Industrials with 29 IPOs (chart under).
Curiously, particular objective acquisition firms (SPACs) have additionally rebounded, with an addition of 62 SPAC IPOs within the first half – greater than all of 2023 (31) or 2024 (57).
We’re additionally proud to say that the majority of IPO exercise has occurred on Nasdaq (blue parts of bars), with an 80+% win price within the first half.
Chart 2: Even with modest slowing in Q2, IPO exercise was comparatively robust in H1
Regardless of fewer IPOs, Stockholm capital raised up 500+% in H1 2025
The story is comparable for the Nasdaq Stockholm IPO Pulse.
It peaked in mid-2024 – lengthy earlier than tariffs weighed on markets. However its downturn additionally accelerated in March and April, pulling the Nasdaq Stockholm IPO Pulse right down to a 1½-year low by April (chart under, blue line).
Following the mid-2024 peak within the Stockholm IPO Pulse, IPO counts peaked in This fall 2024 and have slowed in every of the final two quarters (inexperienced bars).
However this slowdown within the depend of IPOs overlooks the power in Stockholm and Nasdaq’s different European venues extra broadly.
Particularly, Nasdaq Stockholm had the largest European IPO this 12 months – Asker Healthcare – and three of the highest 5 IPOs in Europe. And Nasdaq Stockholm noticed its capital raised enhance over 500% year-over-year to €1.9 billion in H1, even because the European IPO market noticed its capital raised fall 65% to €3.7 billion within the first half.
And, just like the U.S. IPO Pulse, the Stockholm IPO Pulse has additionally elevated in Could and June, reaching a three-month excessive. So, if it continues to get well, the downturn in Stockholm IPO counts might effectively finish quickly, too.
Chart 3: Stockholm IPO counts slowed in H1 2025, whilst capital raised rebounded
Identical to the market, the IPO downturn could also be quick lived too
Whereas we have now seen some slowdown within the variety of working firms going public, it’s been comparatively delicate, and capital raised truly rose considerably year-on-year within the U.S. and Stockholm, regardless of market volatility and the preliminary tariff sell-off.
If the latest upticks in each IPO Pulses proceed, it’s doable the downturns in U.S. and Stockholm IPO exercise final only a quarter or two, helped by the markets’ fast restoration from tariff fears and a strong pipeline of personal fairness.
