Cerebras Systems Inc. raised $5.55 billion in its initial public offering in the US on May 13, pricing shares at $185 each, above the marketed range of $150 to $160 per share [1, 2]. The IPO is the largest in 2026 so far and the biggest ever for a US semiconductor company, surpassing Arm Holdings’ 2023 debut [3, 4].
The company’s market value at the IPO price is estimated around $40 billion based on shares outstanding, with a fully diluted valuation between $49 billion and $56.4 billion [3, 5, 2]. However, market capitalization rose following the stock’s debut. Shares jumped approximately 68% during debut trading on May 14, closing near $311 after hitting a high of $350 before volatility trading halts [6, 4, 7]. This pushed the company's valuation to roughly $67 billion according to some market observers [8, 9, 10].
Cerebras was co-founded in 2015 by Andrew Feldman and others [8, 9]. Feldman, the CEO, saw his stake worth about $3.2 billion after the IPO, though estimates vary from $1.9 billion to $4 billion across sources [8, 9, 10, 2]. Feldman called the IPO “one of the biggest tech IPOs in history, and the biggest semi IPO in history,” saying, “We couldn’t be more proud” [9].
The company’s net income improved to $87.9 million on revenue of $510 million in fiscal 2025, up from a loss of $484.8 million on $290.3 million revenue in 2024 [3]. Cerebras focuses on large AI chips optimized for inference speed, distinguishing itself from competitors like Nvidia, and has notable partnerships with OpenAI and Amazon for AI chip deployment [3, 9, 4, 2]. OpenAI released its first model running on Cerebras chips in February 2026 and signed a deal for $20 billion in computing capacity through 2028 [3, 9, 4, 2].
Significant venture capital investors including Benchmark, Eclipse, and Foundation Capital hold large stakes valued in the billions after the IPO [7]. Benchmark’s General Partner Eric Vishria recalled early days: "I understood very little past slide three or four of the whole pitch. It was just the five founders and a deck at that point" [7].
Cerebras first filed to go public in September 2024 but withdrew its submission following scrutiny [2]. The company announced plans on May 4, 2026, to sell 28 million shares priced between $115 and $125 each before settling on the final $185 price on May 13 [2].
Analysts on May 15 projected Cerebras’ IPO as a key milestone for tech sector growth and Nasdaq index advances [11]. Trading will continue on Nasdaq following the successful debut, with investors closely watching its performance.
