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Nasdaq IPOs raise $21.3 billion in H1

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IPOs on NYSE raise $8.7 billion in H1

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Increased SPAC activity lifts overall volumes

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Venture Global ( VG ), CoreWeave ( CRWV ), SailPoint IPOs rank as biggest

of H1

By Anirban Sen

NEW YORK, July 1 (Reuters) - Nasdaq handily beat the New

York Stock Exchange in stock market listings during the first

half of 2025, buoyed by blockbuster initial public offerings of

big names like CoreWeave ( CRWV ) and Chime and a jump

in proceeds raised via special purpose acquisition companies.

IPOs at Nasdaq, including those of blank-check

acquisition companies, raised about $21.3 billion during the

first half, compared with $8.7 billion for flotations at the

NYSE, according to data from Dealogic.

Excluding SPAC volumes, traditional IPOs on the Nasdaq

raised roughly $9 billion from 79 deals, while 15 IPOs on NYSE

raised about $7.8 billion. Last year during the same period,

Nasdaq IPOs had raised about $6.1 billion, while shares worth

$11.5 billion were sold from IPOs on NYSE.

Stock market launches dropped off sharply during the

April market selloff that was driven by erratic U.S. trade

policy, but Wall Street has since recovered and companies are

starting to rush back to seek listings.

"We felt this year had an opportunity to be good - and then

we had enormous volatility to start the year, so companies

across the board had to go pencils down," Nasdaq President

Nelson Griggs told Reuters.

"Clearly now, with the market rebound we've had after a very

strong May, companies are back having those discussions. If the

next round (of companies) does well, I think you're going to

really see some excitement for the fall," Griggs added.

The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 reached

record closing highs on Monday, capping their best quarter in

more than a year.

With its first-half listings performance, Nasdaq maintained

its stranglehold at the top of the rankings. The exchange

operator has led the IPO rankings ahead of NYSE during the

better part of the past decade, including the last six years,

according to Dealogic.

The market share battle between the two top U.S. exchanges

and the improving outlook for stock market listings follows an

arid spell for capital markets that lasted for more than two

years.

Several big names including medical supply giant Medline and

design software maker Figma are gearing up for IPOs later this

year.

Liquefied natural gas exporter Venture Global's ( VG ) $1.75

billion share sale, CoreWeave's ( CRWV ) $1.5 billion raise, and

cybersecurity firm SailPoint's ( SAIL ) $1.38 billion offering

ranked as the biggest U.S. IPOs during the first half.

"The largest IPO YTD is listed on the NYSE. We anticipate

that issuance for the remainder of the year will continue to be

active," NYSE Global Head of Capital Markets Michael Harris

said.

HIGH-PROFILE SWITCHES

Both exchanges have been beneficiaries of large corporations

transferring listings from one venue to the other.

This year, Nasdaq has received a boost from high-profile

switches including those of Kleenex tissue maker Kimberly-Clark ( KMB )

and content and technology company Thomson Reuters ( TMSOF )

, the parent company of Reuters News.

Nasdaq said 10 companies with a combined market value of

$271.4 billion have switched from the NYSE this year, the best

first-half performance for the exchange operator since it

started tracking the data from 2006.

NYSE was buoyed by transfers from five companies including

financial services firm Virtu, CSW Industrials ( CSW ),

and building products distributor QXO in the first half.

Some companies that transferred from NYSE to Nasdaq this

year cited the attractiveness of the Nasdaq-100 index -

which includes 100 of the most valuable non-financial companies

listed on the Nasdaq including the likes of Nvidia ( NVDA ) and

Apple ( AAPL ) - as being a key driver for the decision to

switch.

The Nasdaq 100 has risen nearly 8% this year, compared to

the S&P 500, which has climbed about 5.5% year-to-date.

"We realized very quickly that Nasdaq had something that

was very compelling - if you are in the Nasdaq and you meet the

threshold for the market cap, you can be part of the Nasdaq-100,

a great index to be a member of," said Juan Pelaez,

vice-president of investor relations at chemicals company Linde

, which switched to Nasdaq in 2023.

The rivalry between Nasdaq and NYSE has played a big role in

making U.S. capital markets more attractive for investors,

compared to other markets like Hong Kong and London, which

currently have only one venue for flotations, according to

experts.