Cerebras Systems is gearing up for a substantial increase in both the size and pricing of its initial public offering (IPO), a move prompted by surging demand for the company’s shares in the midst of an AI boom. Sources familiar with the matter have disclosed that the company is contemplating a new price range of $150 to $160 per share, a notable revision from the previously set range of $115 to $125. Additionally, Cerebras plans to increase the number of shares available for sale from 28 million to 30 million.
If the company successfully prices its shares at the top of this new range, it could potentially raise around $4.8 billion, significantly higher than the $3.5 billion anticipated under its original terms. These updated figures, however, remain subject to change as the IPO is still pending.
The rising interest in Cerebras is part of a larger trend driven by the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence technologies, which has created an urgent demand for high-performance chips. This surge has positioned semiconductors as a critical bottleneck within the technology supply chain. According to insiders, several orders have already surpassed 20 times the number of shares available, highlighting the intense investor appetite for shares ahead of the company’s planned pricing date on May 13.
Cerebras, which is based in Sunnyvale, California, specializes in developing unique chips designed for running sophisticated AI models, operating in a market overwhelmingly dominated by Nvidia. The company is experiencing a surge in demand, particularly as AI research and development shifts focus from model training to deployment. Cerebras’ technology is particularly well-suited for inference tasks—crucial computations that allow AI models to effectively respond to user queries—offering a competitive advantage over traditional GPU chips used predominantly for training purposes.
This upcoming IPO represents Cerebras’ second attempt to enter the public market, having initially filed for an IPO in 2024 before retracting its plan last year. The firm’s partnership with G42, a UAE-based AI company that provided over 80% of its revenue during the first half of 2024, sparked a national security review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. However, the committee ultimately approved the partnership.
Since then, Cerebras has secured contracts with major industry players such as Amazon and OpenAI, which are among the most prominent builders of AI infrastructure. Should the IPO go ahead as planned, it is poised to become the largest IPO globally for 2023, as reported by Dealogic.
The offering is being managed by a consortium of investment banks, including Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Barclays, and UBS Group. Cerebras intends for its shares to trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “CBRS.”
