Money with Murphy: Q1 Wake-Up Call
Money with Murphy: Q1 Wake-Up Call
Mega-cap tech stumbled hard in Q1, but diversification came through. Kara Murphy breaks down the quarter’s surprises—from market shakeups to rising trade tensions—and why the “boring stuff” might just be your portfolio’s MVP.
Will this be the year the initial public offering (IPO) market finally gets its mojo back? After sinking in 2022, more companies have been indicating an interest in going public, encouraged by improving market conditions and renewed investor appetite for growth. That said, the backdrop isn’t without complications. Recent market volatility tied to rising oil prices and escalating tensions in the Middle East is a reminder that the IPO window can open (and close) quickly. As such, expectations for a rebound in IPO activity come with an important caveat: timing will matter. In this week’s Markets in a Minute, we explore the outlook for IPOs, the implications for investors and risks to the forecast. Unicorns Take Flight An estimated 200 to 230 companies could go public this year, potentially raising $40 to $60 billion, according to research from Renaissance Capital. That would bring activity closer to the 20-year average of roughly 250 IPOs annually. By comparison, just 71 companies went public in 2022, raising about $8 billion. Other forecasts for this year are also bullish. Goldman Sachs , for instance, expects total IPO proceeds to quadruple to a record $160 billion. Software and healthcare companies are expected to account for the largest share of IPOs by number. However, offerings by a relatively small group of late-stage technology and artificial intelligence (AI) firms are likely to generate the lion’s share of total proceeds, according to the investment bank. Among the highly valued, privately held billion-dollar companies (or so-called unicorns) expected to go public this year are Elon Musk’s SpaceX, artificial intelligence firm Anthropic, and ChatGPT maker OpenAI Group. By some accounts, SpaceX’s IPO could be the largest ever, potentially raising $30 billion, which would surpass the record set by Saudi Aramco in 2019.
Higher Oil, Higher Stakes: A New Test for Consumers and the Fed
As the final earnings season of 2025 draws to a close, companies in the S&P 500 Index have demonstrated strong earnings momentum. According to FactSet, the blended year-over-year earnings growth rate for the benchmark is 14.2% as of February 27th, with almost all companies in the S&P 500 having reported fourth quarter earnings. Another strong set of results makes it five consecutive quarters of double-digit growth. Earnings strength was broad based across the index with all 11 sectors reporting positive growth relative to the previous year. Standouts included Information Technology (IT) and Industrials, with year-over-year growth rates of 34% and 27%, respectively. At the other end of the spectrum, Healthcare and Consumer Discretionary have been laggards, though both sectors grew earnings year over year by 0.4%.
