Medline’s long-anticipated public debut has officially marked the end of the 2025 IPO season. The private equity–backed medical supplies giant began trading on Nasdaq under the symbol MDLN, seeking to raise $5 billion primarily to pay down debt. The size of the offering places Medline in rare company: only two other IPOs in the past decade—Uber in 2019 and Rivian in 2021—have matched or exceeded that level of fundraising, underscoring the exceptional scale of the transaction.
Medline is not closing the year alone. Financial advisory firm Andersen, trading under the ticker ANDG on the NYSE, is also set to debut. Andersen was formed by former partners of Arthur Andersen, reviving a storied name in professional services with a modern advisory-focused model. Together, the two deals effectively bring the curtain down on a 2025 IPO market that struggled for momentum for much of the year but managed to deliver a handful of high-profile listings at the finish.
With the calendar nearly empty, market participants are already looking ahead. An annual review of the 2025 IPO market is expected next week, including a forward-looking outlook for 2026. Early signs suggest that activity is already building, with companies beginning to file for January listings. EquipmentShare is among the latest names to enter the pipeline, hinting at a potentially busier start to the new year than many expected.
Speculation around 2026 has intensified further following news that SpaceX’s valuation has surged past $800 billion. Elon Musk has confirmed IPO rumors, and at that scale, a SpaceX listing could raise more capital than the entirety of the 2025 IPO class combined. SpaceX is one of several private companies valued above $100 billion that are preparing for potential public debuts as soon as next year, alongside AI leaders Anthropic and OpenAI, as well as data analytics firm Databricks. Even so, market observers caution that some of these names could push their listings into 2027, depending on conditions.
While headline deals captured attention, smaller IPOs also made waves this week. North Carolina-based contractor Cardinal Infrastructure ended the week up 41% above its offer price, a rare standout among small-cap regional names. In contrast, robo-advisor Wealthfront priced at the top of its range but posted a modest 1% gain, reflecting more restrained investor enthusiasm.
Macro conditions added to the volatility. A Federal Reserve rate cut sparked the early stages of a Santa Claus rally, though renewed concerns around the technology sector resurfaced by Friday. The IPO market declined 1.9% over the week, underperforming the S&P 500’s 0.6% drop. Fintech firm Chime led the IPO Index higher with an 8.6% gain following a bullish upgrade from Goldman Sachs, while AI-focused data center operator CoreWeave slid 11.0%, highlighting the sector’s ongoing sensitivity to sentiment shifts.
As Medline’s massive debut brings 2025 to a close, investors are already repositioning for what could be a dramatically different IPO landscape in 2026—one potentially defined by unprecedented scale, renewed risk appetite, and the long-awaited arrival of some of the world’s most valuable private companies.
