For investment bankers, late summer typically represents one of the quietest periods of the year, but this year's market has broken convention. Mid-August has already shown explosive IPO activity: 12 companies completed offerings (with individual fundraising of at least $50 million), raising approximately $2.9 billion in total, representing roughly double the activity levels compared to the same period in previous years. Comparing data from the past decade, August IPOs averaged 9 companies with total fundraising of approximately $1.5 billion, making this year's activity level significantly elevated.

Matthew Kennedy, Senior IPO Market Strategist at Renaissance Capital, noted: "Market demand for new issues is very clear, and these companies are seizing the window to advance their public offerings." He mentioned that while the IPO market has been essentially stagnant for the past few years, the current surge in demand is not surprising, stating "Without such strong market demand, these companies likely wouldn't choose to go public at this time."

Cryptocurrency exchange operator Bullish (BLSH.US) provides a典型 example with its high-profile recent IPO: raising over $1 billion at an offering price of $37 per share, the stock soared to $90 on opening day and closed with a market capitalization of $10 billion, nearly double its pre-IPO valuation.

This momentum was already evident in July, when 29 companies completed IPOs raising $5.2 billion in total, including design software manufacturer Figma (FIG.US). Figma went public on July 31st, with first-day gains exceeding 200% above the offering price and intraday spikes reaching 250%, underwritten jointly by Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Allen & Co., and JPMorgan Chase.

Technology and cryptocurrency sectors have become the core driving forces of this year's IPO market. Stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL.US), fintech company Chime (CHYM.US), and artificial intelligence data center company CoreWeave (CRWV.US) all received positive feedback in first-day trading. Looking toward the end of 2025, companies like Klarna and StubHub may also join the listing pipeline, with substantial deal flow in reserve.

In the second quarter, equity underwriting fee income at JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley all achieved quarter-over-quarter growth (with only JPMorgan showing a slight year-over-year decline). Since April 9th, these four banks' stock prices have all risen more than 35%, with Citigroup's stock up over 60%.

Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick stated in a recent earnings call: "While investment banking business remains in early recovery stages, this quarter's strong equity underwriting performance is a positive signal."

The sustained summer economic activity is undoubtedly favorable for Wall Street banks. Previously, tariff uncertainties had dampened market expectations for breakthrough progress throughout the year, while the current IPO market explosion is injecting strong momentum into third-quarter performance.