Cryptocurrency issuer Figure raised $787.5 million at a $5.3 billion valuation, AI startup Perplexity raised $200 million at a $20 billion valuation (according to The Information's sources), and Goldman Sachs reported its most active IPO week since 2021, thanks in part to a successful offering of fintech startup Klarna. On these and other topics, see our roundup of key events for the morning of September 11.

Goldman Sachs is experiencing its most active IPO week since 2021

Head of Goldman Sachs David Solomon said that this week will be for the bank the largest number of IPOs since July 2021, writes Reuters. His comment came on the back of Klarna's successful debut in New York. This week's large number of IPOs follows a surge in shares of Figma, Bullish and Firefly Aerospace, which all IPO'd over the summer: this has boosted investor confidence in new offerings.

According to Solomon, rising stock markets and impressive first days of trading for technology companies have revitalized interest in listings, with mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity up 32% year-over-year. Deals over $10 billion alone were up 100%. Wall Street banks are beefing up teams, hiring dozens of senior executives to handle deals, Reuters noted.

But risks remain: inflation is still above the Fed's 2% target, the labor market is signaling a slowdown, and U.S. tariff policy continues to introduce uncertainty. "There is no doubt that this is having an impact on growth," Solomon noted, adding that it is difficult to assess the magnitude of the impact.

Figure raised $787.5 million in IPO at a $5.3 billion valuation

Stablecoin issuer Figure Technology together with investors raised $787.5 million during the IPO in the U.S., selling 31.5 million shares at $25 per piece - above the stated range, writes Reuters. Thus, the company's valuation amounted to $5.29 billion. Trading in shares under the ticker FIGR will start on Nasdaq on Thursday. Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and BofA Securities acted as lead-underwriters.

Founded in 2018 in New York City, Figure uses blockchain to accelerate funding for mortgages and home loans: according to the company, the process takes just 10 days versus an industry average of 42 days. Interest in buying $50 million worth of securities was expressed by billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller's Duquesne Family Office fund.

Figure's going public reflects the revival of the crypto sector and IPO market: the capitalization of digital assets has exceeded $4 trillion, and regulatory relief and corporate acceptance of cryptocurrencies are driving offerings. On the same day, Sweden's Klarna rose 30% after its debut, while Gemini, Via and Black Rock Coffee are preparing their IPOs.

Oracle soars 36% after record AI backlog and OpenAI deal

Oracle stunned Wall Street by reporting a 360% increase in future liabilities (RPO) to $455 billion. The company forecasts its OCI cloud business to grow 77% to $18 billion this year and $144 billion by the 2030s, Yahoo Finance writes. According to WSJ, Oracle has a five-year, $300 billion contract with OpenAI, and has also signed multi-billion dollar deals with Nvidia, Meta, AMD and xAI.

The news triggered a record jump in Oracle's shares - more than 36%, which was the largest increase since 1992 and added $250 billion to its capitalization. Co-founder Larry Ellison's wealth exceeded Elon Musk's, making him the richest man in the world. In parallel, the shares of Nvidia and AMD rose by 4% and 2.4%.

Although Oracle's quarterly results came in below analyst expectations, analysts at Deutsche Bank, William Blair and Jefferies called the company's backlog "truly amazing" and "stunning," highlighting its leadership in AI infrastructure. The company also increased its forecast for data center and server investments from $25 billion to $35 billion, increasing optimism around the continuation of the AI rally.

Perplexity raised $200 million at a $20 billion valuation

Perplexity, a startup developing AI search with dialog answers, has received $200 million in new funding at a $20 billion valuation, The Information reports. The round comes just two months after the company raised $100 million at a valuation of $18 billion. Total investment in Perplexity since its founding three years ago has reached $1.5 billion.

According to sources, the company's annual recurring revenue (ARR) is approaching $200 million, up from $150 million in August. The lead investors in the latest round are still unknown; Bloomberg previously wrote about $500 million invested in the company at a $14 billion valuation.

The capital raise coincided with Perplexity's active positioning as a Google competitor. In August, the startup offered to buy the Chrome browser for $34.5 billion after an antitrust lawsuit against Google. However, in September, the court allowed Google to keep the search business and the browser.

What's in the markets

- Japan's broad Topix index was up slightly within 0.1%.

- The benchmark Nikkei 225 was up about 1%.

- In South Korea, the Kospi index was up 0.46%, while the Kosdaq index of small companies was almost unchanged.

- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was falling 0.37 percent.

- Futures on the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor

Share