What is a micro cap IPO, and why are they disappearing from the stock market?

We are at an inflection point, a moment when AI-driven mega IPOs are flooding the market—from SpaceX, to the frenzy surrounding OpenAI and Anthropic’s upcoming initial public offerings. Meanwhile, smaller micro cap IPOs are vanishing. Micro cap IPOs are initial public offerings of a company with a market capitalization, or “market cap” (total value of a company’s outstanding shares) historically around $5 to $30 million (between 2010 and 2025). But more recently, regulators are re...