AI madness and giants' "bloodsucking": US stock equity financing breaks 300 billion dollars this year, super cycle or huge liquidity test?

The scale of the US stock equity financing market has expanded sharply this year. On July 22, according to The Information, the total amount of stock sales in the US so far this year has exceeded $300 billion, far exceeding Wall Street's previous estimate of $200 billion to $225 billion. SpaceX and Alphabet's large-scale financing are the main sources driving the annual data higher. The massive financing not only reflects the extreme demand of technology companies for AI capital expenditure but also presents a substantial test to the liquidity absorption capacity of the public market. The financing effect of the giants is reshaping the market fund pattern. As more super unicorns and tech giants line up to enter the market, the scale of financing for the whole year is expected to further increase, and the market is entering a "super cycle" of equity financing driven by AI narratives. Financing structure dominated by giants This round of financing explosion is the result of resonance from multiple channels such as IPOs, additional issuances, and convertible bonds. Among them, SpaceX's massive IPO and Google's record-breaking additional issuance are the absolute main pillars. SpaceX raised $750 billion in its IPO at $135 per share, with a valuation of $1.75 trillion. Its prospectus shows that capital expenditure will reach $20.7 billion in 2025, with about 60% going towards AI, and the fundraising will mainly be used to expand AI computing power and satellite networks. To deal with annual AI capital expenditures of up to $180 billion to $190 billion, Google initiated an epic equity financing of up to $800 billion to $900 billion through issuing common shares, selling mandatory convertible preferred shares, and ATM (market price issuance) plans, becoming the biggest driving force for increasing the refinancing scale of already listed companies. In addition, IPO plans for super unicorns such as SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic are expected to further drive an additional $70 billion in AI spending. Furthermore, with the capital expenditure of top cloud service providers exceeding $750 billion, the huge funding gap has forced giants to open the door to equity financing. Unicorn IPO pace shows differentiation The scale data is impressive, but the individual situation is much more complicated. After its IPO, SpaceX's stock price is under pressure, and combined with recent drastic fluctuations in tech stocks, the market appetite for large tech IPOs has clearly diminished. OpenAI is currently leaning towards delaying its IPO until 2027, with CEO Sam Altman aiming for a valuation of $1 trillion. Although Anthropic has already submitted its IPO application in secret, the expected listing time has been adjusted to as early as October of this year. This pace itself indicates some issues, that even the hottest AI assets need to wait for the market to be ready to accept that price. Even if some unicorns have postponed their timetables, the projects waiting to be issued are still crowded. Billion-dollar issuances like OpenAI, Anthropic, and others are still in the queue, and already listed companies like Alphabet may also conduct follow-up financing through additional issuances or convertible bonds. The total scale for the whole year is likely to continue to rise. For investors, this trend has two aspects. Massive equity financing will continue to draw liquidity from the secondary market, and the pressure on non-AI sectors will not disappear in the short term. On the other hand, this financing will eventually AI hardware purchases and infrastructure investments, providing substantial order support for the related industry chain. These two things will happen simultaneously, and the structural differentiation in the market is likely to continue for some time. This article is reprinted from "Wall Street View"; GMTEight editor: Li Fo.