Markets

After years of false starts, the IPO market feels like it is approaching a genuine inflection point. The consensus among bankers and investors at this year’s conference was notably more optimistic than the macro backdrop might suggest. That optimism has since found its first proof point: shares in chipmaker Cerebras Systems more than doubled on its market debut after raising $5.5 billion, the largest IPO of the year, confirming that investor appetite for the right AI story is very much alive. 

With volatile front-end oil prices, an escalating conflict in the Middle East, and a closing window on favorable antitrust conditions, the upstream energy market is navigating a complex set of conditions heading into the second half of 2026. Yet dealmaking has not slowed. If anything, it has accelerated.

While volatile oil prices have introduced uncertainty across the energy sector, midstream is experiencing something closer to the opposite effect. The geopolitical disruptions reshaping global supply have reinforced one fundamental truth for midstream operators: volumes are coming. The question is no longer whether production will be drilled, but when and that shift in certainty is driving a meaningful acceleration in midstream deal activity. 

The IPO market has reopened to the industry, and private equity is playing an increasingly important role. Meanwhile, the defense sector, as reflected by the ITA ETF, returned more than 38% so far this year, far outpacing the S&P 500.

What analysts came to call the “SaaSpocalypse,” a months-long compression of software valuations driven by existential fears about artificial intelligence, shook the confidence of executives and investors who had long treated the dominance of enterprise software as a given.

Scott Beicke, Americas Head of Power, Utilities & Infrastructure, and Georges Arbache, Managing Director, Power, Utilities & Infrastructure, shared their perspectives on the forces reshaping the sector at the Jefferies Energy & Power Summit 2026.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent shockwaves through global energy markets. With 20% of the world’s ready oil on the water at any given moment, and the majority of it passing through the Strait, the conflict in the Middle East has exposed just how thin the margin is between global supply and […]

The global secondary market saw record volume in 2025, and growth can increasingly be found in the APAC region.   APAC accounts for less than 10% of the now-$240 billion secondary market. But investor appetite is growing as APAC secondary funds have enough dry powder to fund three years’ worth of deals. The APAC secondary […]

We recently spoke with Dominic Lester and his colleague Lorna Shearin, Deputy Head of EMEA Investment Banking, to get their take on the state of European economies and the transaction environment. We also connected with Ed Keen, Head of Equities EMEA, and Alex Coffey, Head of EMEA Research, for additional perspective on why mid-sized companies are attracting so much investor interest.