Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon believes the IPO market is set to recover soon, signaling a positive shift in capital markets.

He noted that the capital markets are starting to show signs of life, especially with the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. The tech IPO scene has been pretty quiet since late 2021, mainly due to rising inflation and interest rates. This has made mergers and acquisitions tough, especially with all the regulations in place.
But Solomon feels the mood is shifting. He’s seeing a more positive outlook for both M&A and IPOs. He mentioned that there’s a significant backlog of deals waiting to happen, and the business environment is looking better overall.
On the same day, the S&P 500 had its biggest gain since November, boosted by a good inflation report and Goldman’s strong earnings. While the stock market has been doing well, IPOs haven’t quite bounced back yet. The recent debut of ServiceTitan on the Nasdaq was the first major venture-backed IPO in a while.
Solomon pointed out that some companies are ready to go public, like chipmaker Cerebras, which filed to go public but faced delays. He also mentioned that while he’s hopeful, there are still reasons companies might hesitate to go public. The number of public companies has dropped significantly over the years, and the standards for being public have become stricter.
In his own words, “It’s not fun being a public company.” So, it’ll be interesting to see how things unfold in the coming months.