Just like for SpaceX, investors may look to ‘make room’ for AI lab IPOs. These stocks could pay the price.

The prospect of artificial intelligence laboratory IPOs from OpenAI and Anthropic has caught investor attention not only for the companies themselves but for their potential ripple effects across the broader market. When major new offerings enter the public markets, portfolio managers often need to raise cash to fund their participation, which can trigger a cascade of selling in existing holdings. This pattern became evident during SpaceX's journey toward public markets, where investors had to restructure their portfolios to accommodate the new opportunity. The timing of potential AI company debuts during the traditional year-end tax-planning season creates an additional layer of complexity. Many investors engage in tax-loss harvesting—selling underperforming positions to offset capital gains—during the fourth quarter, a practice that tends to depress prices in beaten-down sectors. The convergence of this seasonal selling pattern with the capital demands of high-profile IPOs could amplify downward pressure on technology stocks that have already struggled during the year. Stocks that fall into this category face a potential double headwind, as both tax-motivated selling and portfolio repositioning toward new AI investments could drive outflows. Investors monitoring the potential IPO calendar alongside market seasonality patterns may find opportunities to position defensively or identify stocks most vulnerable to this projected selling pressure.