In a recent forecast of activity in the initial public offering (IPO) market, Renaissance Capital said a "long-awaited … rebound is here."
A spring freeze sparked by uncertainty over President Donald Trump's aggressive tariff policies quickly thawed over the summer with successful offerings from names such as crypto company Bullish (BLSH) and design software company Figma (FIG), which raised $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively.
Overall, there have been 142 IPOs priced in 2025 through September 3, up almost 58% from the year prior. Total proceeds raised from these filings are at $23 billion, roughly in line with the year-ago period.
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"Heading into the fall season, we expect the fastest pace of deal activity since 2021, as more companies accelerate listing plans amid the current momentum," says Renaissance Capital in its fall 2025 U.S. IPO preview.
The IPO experts go on to say that, "While recent enthusiasm has centered around high-growth industries like tech, fintech, AI, and crypto, the IPO backlog comprises a wealth of different sectors, featuring biotechs, restaurants, banks, and energy companies."
And one of the most-anticipated upcoming IPOs is right on our doorstep. Indeed, Swedish buy-now-pay-later firm Klarna just updated its F-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after pausing its plans to go public earlier this year.
When is the Klarna IPO date?
On September 2, Klarna officially priced its public offering, noting its intention to sell roughly 34.3 million shares between $35 and $37 apiece.
Klarna's prospectus also indicates that its Class B shares, which are only available to current stakeholders such as co-founder and CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski and venture capital firm Sequoia, will be entitled to 10 votes per share, while its common stock will account for one vote each.
The company will list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange, under the ticker symbol "KLAR."
While its exact IPO date is still unknown at this time, some indications suggest that KLAR stock will start trading next Wednesday, September 10.
How much is Klarna worth?
Based on its current price range, Klarna is poised to raise $1.2 billion in its offering – which would make it one of the biggest IPOs of the year.
This puts its valuation closer to $14 billion, though this is a far cry from June 2021, when its valuation hit $45.6 billion in a funding round led by SoftBank.
As for its financials, the company's prospectus indicates that it had gross merchandise volume of $112 billion in the trailing 12-month period ending June 30, up from $53 billion in 2020. Its revenue over that 12-month time frame was $3 billion and it had 111 million active consumers.
Should you buy the Klarna IPO?
"An initial public offering enables a private company to 'go public,' or start trading in public markets, by issuing its own shares on a stock exchange for the first time. In this way, any investor can buy shares and the company can raise capital to grow," Taulli writes in his article, "What Is an Initial Public Offering (IPO)?".
But buyer beware: IPOs can be volatile – especially for retail investors. While new stocks tend to have strong first-day showings, returns for the first year are generally weak, says the team of analysts at Trivariate Research, a market research firm based in New York.
As for retail investors, whether or not you buy the Klarna IPO comes down to your own risk tolerance and personal investing goals. If you do decide to buy shares of KLAR stock when they first begin trading, do so in a small amount that you can afford to lose and have a trading plan in place.
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