History should calm enthusiasm for tech IPOs

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor and Publisher

4 June 2026

Australian investors are being cautioned against getting over-enthusiastic about the upcoming US IPO debuts of some of the world’s largest tech companies – Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX.

The warning has come from Melbourne-based fund manager, Datt Capital with its chief investment officer, Emanuel Datt pointing to history as evidence of the need for caution.

“We’ve seen this before,” Datt saidl. “When the American railroads were being built in the 19th century, investors rushed to own the rail companies, but the real wealth was created by the businesses that shipped goods across those rails. AI is not that different. Anthropic, SpaceX, and OpenAI are building the infrastructure. The question investors should be asking is who benefits from using it?

“Technology companies who adopt or use these highly subsidised services at the present are best equipped to benefit ultimately.”

With the NASDAQ now allowing companies with valuations above $100 billion to join the index within 15 trading days, Datt says these mega-caps are not facing the same level of scrutiny as other public listings.

“These IPOs are being marketed as once-in-a-generation opportunities, but the valuations defy conventional logic. When you see liquidity draining from other asset classes the moment these listings are announced, that tells you retail money is being repositioned. For example, money is moving from crypto towards these mega stock IPOs.

“It’s a sign of the times. You have a lot of speculation, you have hot new technology – a confluence of different factors clearly designed to suck in the retail dollar. The promoters of these companies are trying to capture the zeitgeist and basically sell the top.”

By contrast, he notes “Australian small caps are being overlooked precisely because the spotlight is elsewhere.

“That’s often the best time to invest. These companies are quietly adopting AI tools that reduce their cost base and sharpen their competitive edge and they’re available at a fraction of the valuation multiples being asked of the US mega-caps. Australian small-cap equities are a safer to invest in than the US stocks, where markets have run really hot in comparison over the last six months or so.”