Cerebras Nearly Doubles on Nasdaq Debut, Crosses $100 Billion Valuation
CNBC reported Thursday that Cerebras Systems (CBRS) made a stunning Nasdaq debut, with shares opening at $350 against an IPO price of $185. The opening pop briefly pushed the AI chipmaker’s market capitalisation beyond $100 billion before shares pulled back to roughly $310 by afternoon trading.
The Biggest U.S. Tech IPO in Years
The company priced 30 million shares late Wednesday, raising $5.55 billion in total proceeds. That makes the Cerebras IPO the largest U.S. technology offering since Uber went public in 2019. If underwriters exercise their full overallotment option of 4.5 million additional shares, gross proceeds could climb to approximately $6.38 billion.
The listing arrives during a broad semiconductor rally. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF has gained 58% so far in 2026. Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, and Micron have all posted triple-digit gains this year, powered by surging demand for AI infrastructure.
A Rocky Road to the Public Markets
The Cerebras IPO was anything but straightforward. The Silicon Valley company first filed for a public listing in September 2024. That attempt stalled after regulators scrutinised the prospectus heavily, largely because a single customer in the United Arab Emirates accounted for the vast majority of revenue.
Cerebras refiled in April 2026 with a refreshed set of financials. In the updated filing, UAE-based G42 represented 24% of 2025 revenue, down sharply from 85% the prior year. However, the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence still contributed 62% of last year’s revenue. CEO Andrew Feldman told CNBC the university collaboration centres on building English-Arabic language models.
Also Read: Nvidia Pays $20 Billion for Groq Assets in AI Chip Push
Revenue and the Competitive Landscape
Cerebras posted revenue of $510 million in 2025, a 76% increase year over year. Net income swung to $88 million from a loss of nearly $482 million in 2024. The company argues its chip architecture delivers speed and cost advantages over Nvidia’s dominant GPUs, though Nvidia remains the world’s most valuable company and an imposing rival.
The debut positions Cerebras as the most prominent pureplay AI hardware company to list on a U.S. exchange to date. Analysts note the IPO window could widen further. SpaceX, which merged with xAI earlier this year, is preparing a share sale. Model developers OpenAI and Anthropic may also pursue listings later in 2026.
Tech IPO volumes collapsed after 2021, with just 31 deals recorded in 2025 versus 121 four years prior, according to University of Florida IPO researcher Jay Ritter. Thursday’s debut may signal the drought is ending.
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