The enthusiasm of companies seeking alternative financing through initial public offerings (IPOs) continues to grow, with firms awaiting approval from Türkiye’s Capital Markets Board (SPK) gradually making their way onto the stock exchange.
While 18 companies went public in the whole of 2025, 29 firms were listed in the first seven months of this year alone. However, investor response and IPO returns have weakened compared with previous years.
Companies, driven by high borrowing costs, have accelerated their search for alternative sources of financing. In the first seven months of the year, the number of IPOs exceeded the total recorded in 2025. The 18 companies that went public last year raised a combined 45 billion Turkish Liras, while the 29 firms listed through the end of July this year raised 66.7 billion liras. July alone accounted for 61 percent of those IPOs.
Unlike 2024, when nearly every IPO was met with consecutive limit-up gains, the current market has seen a much more mixed performance. While some newly listed shares have posted only modest gains, others are now trading below their offering prices. As a result, IPO performance has lacked a clear direction. Demand for new offerings has also been neither particularly strong nor particularly weak.
Applications for public offerings that built up at the SPK following the pandemic have begun to receive approvals in small batches this year, but whether investor demand and returns have met expectations remains open to debate.
Onur Can Bal, at Gedik Investment, said investor interest in IPOs has not disappeared but is no longer strong. He noted that fresh liquidity entering the stock market has remained limited this year and that investors have often sold existing holdings in order to participate in new offerings, putting pressure on the benchmark BIST 100 index.
“IPO performances have shown a differentiated picture this year. Sharp moves in some stocks have also left investors feeling trapped. The IPO rally seen in 2024 was a frenzy unique to that period,” Bal said.
According to Bal, the outlook for the Turkish stock market during the remainder of the year will depend on geopolitical risks and the timing of interest-rate cuts. He said higher oil prices linked to the Iran conflict have kept inflationary pressures alive and contributed to stagnation in equities.
Bal also said foreign investor inflows have remained limited, while high lira interest rates have curbed domestic investors’ appetite for stocks.
“The main condition for a stock market rally is the start of interest-rate cuts. Depending on developments regarding the Strait of Hormuz, oil prices continue to sustain inflation concerns and keep central banks cautious,” he added.
“For this reason, it is difficult to forecast where the BIST 100 index will stand at year-end. If rate cuts begin, we could see gains in the stock market, but no one can clearly predict when that will happen,” Bal said.
