Will rising equity supply from tech capital spending weigh on share prices?
Core argument: Barclays Equities Tactical Strategies projects that 2026 could be the first year in decades when equity supply rises, reversing the "de-equitization" from buybacks and cash-funded mergers and acquisitions that has buoyed the stock market.
The Nasdaq's most recent peak overlapped almost perfectly with the IPO by Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Inc., the biggest in history. When companies go public, the fear is that the insiders have reason to believe it’s time to sell. By raising the supply of equity, they will tend to bring down share prices. Companies have steadily “de-equitized,” buying back stock and conducting mergers and acquisitions with cash. That has buoyed the stock market. But as Barclays Equities Tactical Strategies shows, 2026 could be the first year in decades when equity supply rises. The hyperscalers need money to fund their capital expenditures, and as Barclays shows, the generous multiples at which their stocks trade make it cheaper to get their financing by raising equity, not debt. That suggests re-equitization, which will make it harder for their share prices to prosper.

