U.S. Stocks Climb as AI Chipmaker Cerebras Systems Surges in Year’s Largest IPO

U.S. stocks climbed on Thursday, lifted by a strong batch of tech-related news that included a blockbuster debut for AI chipmaker Cerebras Systems and another solid earnings report from Cisco. The gains helped push major indexes higher as investors continued to show enthusiasm for companies tied to artificial intelligence, semiconductors and data-center spending, according to Bloomberg and other reports.

Cerebras was the day’s biggest market story. The Sunnyvale, California-based company raised about $5.5 billion in what was described as the year’s largest IPO, then saw its shares surge sharply in their first day of trading before paring some of those gains. Bloomberg reported that the stock ultimately closed at $311.07, well above the $185 IPO price, after trading was halted earlier because of volatility. TechCrunch said the listing marked the first huge tech IPO of 2026 and noted that the company sold more shares and priced above its earlier marketing range after investor demand proved stronger than expected.

The debut was also a windfall for Cerebras insiders and early backers. Bloomberg said CEO Andrew Feldman’s stake made him worth about $3.2 billion after the offering. TechCrunch reported that venture firm Benchmark, which initially hesitated to back the hardware startup, stands to make billions from its investment. The company’s long road to the public market is part of what makes the IPO notable: Cerebras has spent years pitching itself as a different kind of AI chipmaker, focused on specialized hardware for training large artificial intelligence models.

The strong reception to Cerebras underscores how quickly investor appetite for AI infrastructure has grown. The company makes chips and systems designed to accelerate machine-learning workloads, putting it in the center of one of the market’s hottest themes. Its debut also arrives at a time when public-market investors have been looking for signs that the IPO window is reopening for large tech companies after a long drought.

Cisco added to the positive tone on Wall Street. As reported by Fast Company, the networking giant’s earnings beat helped propel the Dow toward the 50,000 mark, while the S&P 500 also hit a fresh record. The results suggested that demand for enterprise technology remains resilient, even as broader markets continue to weigh inflation, interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty.

Together, the day’s moves reflected a wider message from investors: companies tied to the buildout of AI and digital infrastructure remain among the market’s most sought-after names. For Wall Street, that means the next phase of the tech rally may depend not just on software and consumer apps, but also on the expensive hardware and networks that make modern AI possible.