Oura delays IPO as volatility, AI safety fears stall fall listings

Average IPO premium falls from 24% to under 1% in three months

Smart-ring maker Oura postponed its initial public offering on Tuesday, citing “uncertainty in the IPO market,” as volatility in oil prices, rising bond yields, and intensifying debate over artificial intelligence safety prompted a string of other companies to revisit their fall listing plans.

Oura had been aiming to raise as much as $2.2 billion at a valuation of around $15.6 billion, but potential investors made clear they saw the valuation as too high, people familiar with the matter said. Investors questioned whether the company’s revenue growth would take a hit as consumers absorb higher prices and interest rates, those people said.

The company was the latest in a series of high-profile listings delayed or downsized in recent weeks. SoftBank-backed data-center company SB Energy has postponed its IPO date after receiving pushback on its potential valuation, according to people close to the deal. Many on Wall Street had expected Nvidia-backed cloud startup NScale to launch its roadshow pitch to investors as early as next week, but some now anticipate the timing could change, other people familiar with the matter said. Nuclear-reactor company Holtec withdrew its IPO filing earlier this month, citing unfavorable market conditions. Dunkin’ owner Inspire Brands, which had originally considered a late 2026 or early 2027 listing, is now unlikely to go public this year unless shares in publicly traded restaurant rivals begin to trade better, people familiar with the matter said.

The pullback marks a sharp reversal from earlier this year. Investors had been lining up for a parade of IPOs this fall, expected to be headlined by a record-setting offering from AI giant Anthropic. But the cooling market and intensifying debate around AI safety have dented investor enthusiasm across the sector.

Anthropic is weighing November for a potential listing after originally considering earlier in the fall, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The timing shifted as a debate over AI safety and the potential for AI agents going rogue gripped the world, the Journal said. Anthropic’s rival OpenAI, which filed for an IPO within days of Anthropic this spring, has pushed its own offering off until at least next year, suggesting it wants to hold off until more safety-related work can be done in the industry.

Advisers have said Anthropic could have a fundraising advantage if it beats OpenAI to the public markets, and that OpenAI’s altered timeline likely removed some urgency from Anthropic’s IPO plans. OpenAI is now talking to investors about raising more money privately.

The string of delayed offerings illustrates how quickly investors’ enthusiasm for shares of risky new companies can cool. At the end of June, shares in U.S. companies that had gone public this year were up 24% on average from their IPO prices, according to Dealogic. That premium by new issues has since evaporated; as of Tuesday morning, shares in U.S. companies that went public so far this year were up less than 1% on average from their IPO prices.

Investors were clamoring for newly issued shares when SpaceX raised $86 billion in its June debut and getting rewarded for it until recently, the Journal noted. Fund managers said they are less eager to take risky bets as geopolitical events roil markets. Others said they are getting choosier when it comes to IPOs, with some reserving capital for Anthropic stock.

The IPO market is notoriously finicky and could yet bounce back this year if investor sentiment or market conditions improve. IPO volume surged in 2021 before going into a several-year freeze that began to thaw in 2025. If Anthropic proceeds with its offering this year, U.S. IPOs would likely break 2021’s annual record for money raised by new issues.