Chip stocks slid on Friday as traders digested a report that OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) may delay its planned 2026 initial public offering (IPO) until next year.
According to the New York Times, the AI giant is weighing whether to go public this year at a valuation below $1 trillion or to have a better shot at hitting $1 trillion and hold off until 2027.
OpenAI confidentially filed its S-1 paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 8. At the time, the company said it hadn't decided on timing for its public debut because "there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company."
At the same time, however, OpenAI noted that filing gave it the option to go public sooner if that were a better option for the company.
In March, OpenAI said it had a post-money valuation of $852 billion. Rival Anthropic (ANTH.PVT), which filed confidential paperwork for its own IPO on June 1, was last valued at $965 billion.
Part of the reason for OpenAI's potential postponement stems from the recent market reaction to SpaceX (SPCX) stock, which initially climbed well past its opening price of $150 to more than $225 but fell back to $151 as of early Friday.
Since going public, SpaceX has announced it is acquiring AI coding tool Cursor and raised $25 billion via a bond sale.
The New York Times report put a on a brief rally in memory stocks that kicked off Thursday following Micron's (MU) blowout earnings on Wednesday. The company not only topped analysts' expectations on the top and bottom lines, but also provided better-than-anticipated forward guidance.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, Qualcomm (QCOM) announced a new line of data center products, noting that it anticipates data center revenue of $15 billion in its fiscal 2029.
The announcements seemed to ease investors' concerns about a potential AI bubble, but those same fears crept back on Friday as Wall Street once again questioned how long the euphoria around chip stocks and AI companies will last.
Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
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