Increasing the attractiveness and vibrancy of European stock markets

1. US equity markets have been more vibrant than their European counterparts for several years 

The number of initial public offerings (IPOs) and amounts raised are much higher in the United States than in the European Union 

Markets are currently focused on the wave of mega‑IPOs expected in the US artificial intelligence (AI) sector, following the record‑breaking SpaceX listing in June 2026. Yet the gap in listing activity between the United States and the European Union (EU) is deeper and more structural. 

Since 2018, US markets have consistently recorded more IPOs than their EU counterparts. In 2025, there were nearly 374 IPOs in the United States, compared with just 55 in the EU. The gap has been amplified by the strong presence of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) in the United States, where they accounted for 58 IPOs in 2025, compared with only one in the EU. Prior to 2018, the situation was reversed, with EU markets outperforming their US counterparts: in 2017 there were 267 IPOs in the EU, while in the United States there were 237. Between 2017 and 2025, therefore, the number of IPOs carried out by European companies fell by around 60%. 

Since 2010, US markets have also outstripped the EU in terms of the amounts raised. In the first three quarters of 2025, a total of USD 49.6 billion was raised (USD 39.2 billion in 2024) in the United States, compared with just USD 10.8 billion in the EU (USD 30.6 billion in 2024).

The average age of companies carrying out an IPO is 40.1 years in the euro area (which accounts for 21 of the 27 EU Member States), compared with 10.2 years in the United States (Böninghausen et al., 2025). The gap reflects the vibrancy of the US ecosystem, where young growth companies can access equity capital more easily and benefit from a range of institutional support programmes, encouraging them to expand and list in public markets. 

However, equity market financing is not the only available model, and should be considered alongside the Rhineland model, which is central to the European economy. This offers European firms alternative sources of funding, notably lending by local banks and employee participation in corporate projects. 

Companies listed in the United States have higher valuations on average 

The valuations of companies listed in the United States are 3.32 times higher on average than those of their European peers (Böninghausen et al., 2025). US companies appear to benefit more from being publicly listed: they have access to deeper and more liquid capital markets, enabling them to raise substantial capital to finance strategic investments and thereby bolster their profitability. 

The gap between price‑to‑earnings ratios in the US S&P 500 index and those in the French CAC 40 index and the euro area EURO STOXX 50 is widening (see Chart 1). The outperformance of American markets is notably being driven by the technology sector and expectations of strong earnings for AI firms.

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