The global IPO market has been reignited by SpaceX, whose record-breaking US listing – the largest IPO in history – not only set a new benchmark but also lifted overall market sentiment, driving global IPO proceeds in 1H 2026 to nearly five times the level seen a year earlier.
Benefiting from the SpaceX listing, Nasdaq firmly held onto the top spot among global IPO venues in 1H 2026. Hong Kong followed closely, extending the strong momentum from three mega H-share listings in Q1 and adding a jumbo IPO in Q2 by a well-known Chinese printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturer that raised over HKD20 billion.
New York Stock Exchange ranked third, supported by four deals that made it into the world’s top 10 IPOs in 1H 2026, spanning an HVAC and indoor air quality company, a hedge fund firm, a data center REIT, and an electrical distribution equipment maker. Euronext placed fourth on the back of a major Czech defense company IPO, the third-largest deal globally in 1H 2026, while the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges climbed to fifth as IPO activity accelerated in Q2 2026.
Commenting on the trend, Edward Au, Southern Region managing partner at Deloitte China, noted that SpaceX’s successful IPO underscores how global technology development is entering a new phase centered on artificial intelligence, commercial space and advanced manufacturing. As China’s 15th Five-Year Plan advances its aerospace power strategy and Hong Kong explores enhancements to its listing framework for aerospace technology companies, he believes the city is well placed to capture this new wave of technological and industrial transformation, further strengthening its role as an international fundraising hub for Chinese enterprises and a financing center for new quality productive forces.
He added that in 1H 2026, several leading companies from the AI value chain and other new quality productive forces sectors chose to list in Hong Kong, reflecting global investors’ keen interest in China’s innovation and industrial upgrading story. This, in turn, highlights Hong Kong’s unique advantages as both an international financing platform for Chinese issuers and a key venue for channeling capital into emerging technologies and advanced manufacturing.
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