1106 ET - Blackstone COO Jon Gray says, "2026 should be the year of the IPO." The IPO market is cyclical, and IPO volumes as a percentage of the stock market are beginning to float back up after staying low for the past four years, he says at The Wall Street Journal's Invest Live event. The Medline IPO in December, which was backed by Blackstone, "traded exceptionally well, which is an important sign," Gray says, adding that Blackstone has a "pretty long pipeline" in the U.S. and abroad. "The strength of the IPO market, earnings growth, and the success of some of these early IPOs, I think, will lead to more in the coming year, for sure," Gray says. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 03, 2026 11:06 ET (16:06 GMT)

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