Energy IPOs hit highest level in 25 years as investors seek AI data center exposure

Energy companies raised $12.6 billion in initial public offerings during the first half of this year, the highest half-year total since the dot-com bubble peak in late 1999 and a record for the first six months of any year. The figure far surpasses the full-year 2025 total of $4.3 billion. The surge is driven by investor demand for ways to profit from the booming AI sector, where vast energy requirements for data centers have become a critical bottleneck in the multi-trillion-dollar investment wave.