Tech IPO Market Shows Signs of Life—But Don’t Expect Insane Valuations

After a near shutdown in the market for initial public offerings, some tech companies are gearing up for new listings in the next few months. But they’re also coming to terms with valuations likely to be more muted than the ones during last year’s red-hot IPO market, bankers who work on such deals say.

One of the first out of the gate could be internet forum Reddit, which announced it had filed IPO paperwork with securities regulators in mid-December. Also, chip designer Ampere last week filed confidentially for a public offering. And software startup ServiceTitan is also looking to list its shares as early as June, though it is hoping for another tech firm to go public first to assess investor interest, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

“The market position is in a very reasonable place to turn the corner,” said Will Connolly, head of technology equity capital markets at Goldman Sachs. He said some companies are now asking, “do we want to go public now or in May or in June?”