Cerebras Systems, a Silicon Valley-based maker of artificial intelligence chips, priced its initial public offering (IPO) at $185 per share on May 13, 2026, surpassing its expected range, according to a source familiar with the matter [1]. The IPO raised at least $5.55 billion for the company, making it one of the largest U.S. tech IPOs in recent years—second only to Uber's $8 billion raise in 2019 and Rivian's $12 billion in 2021, and exceeding Snowflake's $3.8 billion offering in 2020 [1]. At the IPO price, Cerebras is valued at $56.4 billion on a fully diluted basis, with co-founder and CEO Andrew Feldman holding a stake worth approximately $1.9 billion [1].
The IPO comes amid a surge in semiconductor stocks, with Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, and Micron each rising more than 80% in the past month as investors diversify beyond Nvidia to capitalize on the AI boom [1]. Cerebras' journey to the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol CBRS was marked by challenges, including a withdrawn IPO filing in 2024 due to scrutiny over its reliance on a single customer, Microsoft-backed G42 in the United Arab Emirates [1]. In its updated prospectus, Cerebras reported that G42 accounted for 24% of revenue last year, down from 85% in 2024, while Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence contributed 62% of revenue last year [1].
Cerebras has shifted its business model from primarily selling hardware systems to offering cloud services based on its chips, positioning itself against major cloud providers such as Google, Microsoft, Oracle, and CoreWeave [1]. In January, Cerebras secured a significant deal with OpenAI worth over $20 billion for 750 megawatts of computing capacity, highlighting the company's growing influence in the AI infrastructure market [1]. Cerebras claims its Wafer Scale Engine 3 chips provide speed and price advantages over traditional graphics processing units like Nvidia's [1].
The IPO process saw strong demand, with Cerebras initially planning to sell 28 million shares at $115 to $125 per share, later increasing the offering to 30 million shares and raising the expected price range to $150 to $160 before ultimately pricing at $185 [1]. Bloomberg reported that Arm and SoftBank attempted to acquire Cerebras weeks before the IPO, but the company declined to comment [1].
CONCLUSION
Cerebras Systems' successful IPO above its expected range underscores strong investor appetite for AI chipmakers and signals robust market confidence in the sector's growth. The company's strategic shift toward cloud services and major deals, such as the one with OpenAI, position it as a formidable competitor in the AI infrastructure space. The high valuation and substantial capital raised reflect the ongoing momentum in semiconductor and AI-related equities.