If you’re looking for hot growth stocks, initial public offerings (IPOs) are a great place to start your search. These freshly minted public companies tend to make a splash in the market with big growth expectations and high price tags to match. Although not every IPO stock will be a winner, some of the most valuable companies in the world, such as Amazon (AMZN -0.33%) and Apple (AAPL 0.07%), were once initial public offerings and have turned early investors into millionaires.
Definition
What is an IPO Stock?
An IPO stock is a stock that has recently gone public. That means it has gone through the process of selling its shares to a group of investors, typically with help of an underwriter, and then listing the stock with an exchange like the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq Stock Market, where investors can easily buy and sell it.
A company can sell more shares to the public in what's typically known as a follow-on offering, or a secondary offering. There is an important distinction between the two, though they are sometimes used interchangeably.
- Follow-on offering: A follow-on offering refers to a company selling its stock after its IPO. Companies are free to do this at any time, though they must file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and it means that existing shareholders will be diluted. This can be called a primary offering.
- Secondary offering: A secondary offering refers to a block of stock being sold by an existing shareholder, not the company. This also typically requires public notification through an SEC filing. The main difference between a secondary and a primary offering is that a secondary offering doesn't dilute existing shareholders, though it also doesn't raise any money for the company.
Recent IPOs
Recent IPOs
After a boom in IPOs during the COVID-19 pandemic, the market went ice-cold in 2022 as tech stocks plunged and interest rates soared. However, as the Nasdaq Composite has bounced back, the IPO market has shown signs of life once again, with several new issues debuting over the last year.
1. CoreWeave
CoreWeave (CRWV -3.65%), a generative-AI focused cloud infrastructure business, had a disappointing IPO, but the stock has surged since then, gaining more than 300% from its IPO price of $40 at one point.
CoreWeave's IPO came at the end of March 2025, when concern about tariffs, weakening consumer sentiment, and a potential slowdown in AI spending weighed on the market. The IPO was undersubscribed, and the offering was priced below its target range. Nvidia (NVDA -0.12%), a major customer, bought into the offering, helping to make it happen.
As confidence in the economy has returned, CoreWeave stock has soared. The company is delivering skyrocketing growth with revenue up 420% in the first quarter, showing soaring demand for the AI computing power that it offers. However, CoreWeave is still deeply unprofitable on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis and has high customer concentration, making it risky. Its business model also requires heavy spending on capital expenditures, buying GPUs that it essentially rents out as computing power to customers, meaning it has considerable debt and high interest expenses.
It's a risky stock, but its growth rate shows that it has huge potential. It's also a rare pure-play AI stock.
2. ServiceTitan
Another recent IPO that has attracted some attention is ServiceTitan (TTAN -0.47%), a cloud-based software platform designed to help trade businesses like plumbing, HVAC, and electrical services.
Software-as-a-service (SaaS) stocks have had a lot of success over the last decade, and ServiceTitan is the leader in its software niche. It's delivering solid growth.
During the 12 months ended July 31, 2024, revenue rose 24% to $685 million on $62 billion in gross transaction volume.
Like a lot of other software stocks, it's still unprofitable on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis. ServiceTitan was one of the largest IPOs of 2024, with a market cap that briefly topped $10 billion after its December 2024 IPO.
3. Circle
Circle Internet Group (CRCL -0.17%) just went public with a blazing-hot IPO. After pricing its offering at $31, the stock opened at $69 on its first trading day, and jumped 56% over the next two days.
The demand for Circle's shares indicates strong interest in crypto stocks. There are only a few pure-play crypto stocks on the market, and crypto has had a good year, largely avoiding the volatility that's hit the stock market during the trade war.
Circle issues the stablecoin USDC, the biggest dollar-denominated stablecoin after Tether (USDT 0.02%). It earns money on transaction fees and interest on the reserves it holds to back the stablecoin. It also recently launched Circle Payments Network, which can facilitate cross-border payments in real time.
Circle is profitable, with $155.7 million in net income in 2024 on $1.7 billion in revenue, up 13% from 2023.
4. Omada Health
Another brand-new IPO is Omada Health (OMDA 1.8%), a virtual care company known for its focus on chronic conditions like diabetes.
Omada went public on June 6, 2025, raising $150 million. The stock popped on its opening day, gaining 21% from its $19 IPO price.
Combined with the response to the Circle IPO, investor sentiment seems to indicate strong demand for new issues after a long cold spell in IPOs.
Omada's revenue rose 38% to $169.9 million in 2024 and reported a net loss of 47.1 million, which was an improvement from a loss of $67.5 million in 2023.
5. Nebius Group
Nebius Group (NBIS -0.9%), a competitor to CoreWeave, went public last October before its larger rival did.
Nebius is also putting up blistering growth. Its revenue is up 385% in the first quarter to $55.3 million, but the company is rapidly losing money like CoreWeave.
Nebius is much smaller than CoreWeave, which topped $1 billion in revenue in its most recent quarter, and its business model is slightly different. Nebius has a broader focus with services like managed databases and Machine Learning Ops services, while CoreWeave focuses primarily on access to AI computing power through Nvidia GPUs. However, both companies have tremendous growth potential.
IPOs to watch
IPO stocks to watch in 2025
1. Stripe
As the most valuable privately held tech startup in the U.S., digital payments company Stripe may be the most anticipated IPO out there. While the company has not announced plans to go public, Reuters reported that Stripe had taken its first step toward a market debut, tapping a law firm to guide it through the process. The wire service also said the company was planning on a direct listing instead of a traditional IPO since it doesn't need to raise new funds.
Stripe, which provides cloud software that allows businesses to seamlessly process payments, took a valuation cut from $95 billion to $50 billion due to the crash in tech stocks. It was valued at $91.5 billion in a secondary offering in February 2025 that allowed employees to cash out their stock. Still, management continues to say that it aims to go public eventually, though it seems to keep putting off that decision.
2. Shein
Shein could be the biggest IPO of 2025. The Chinese discount e-commerce site known for cheap clothes and similar merchandise filed confidentially to go public in November 2023.
In January 2025, Reuters reported that it was aiming for an IPO by midyear. While it hasn't revealed its financials yet, the company could reportedly be valued at $90 billion. Temu, a similar Chinese discount e-commerce site, has also grown rapidly, showing strong demand for cheap online merchandise and alternatives to Amazon.
Regulatory scrutiny around its supply chain and labor practices seems to have derailed its hopes for an IPO in the U.S. for now, and the company is now looking to go public in Hong Kong.
3. Discord
As of March 2025, media reports indicated that Discord, the messaging app that's popular with gamers, has been in early talks with bankers to go public as soon as 2025. Discord was valued at $15 billion in its last funding round in 2021.
The company has not confirmed any plans to go public. It now has more than 200 million monthly active users, with the vast majority of them using the app to play games. It makes money through a "freemium" business model, offering enhanced features for paying users.
Related investing topics
How to buy IPO stock
How to buy IPO stock
Most of the big discount brokers -- Fidelity, Charles Schwab (SCHW 0.56%), and E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley, for example -- offer access to at least some IPOs. Each imposes different requirements for participation, but you must have an account with a broker to invest in an IPO via that broker. Here's how the process works:
1. Prove eligibility
Brokerages generally have some restrictions on who can invest in IPOs. For example, E*TRADE requires you to be a U.S. resident, have an active account, and complete a questionnaire to determine eligibility.
Fidelity's requirements are more detailed. Customers must have at least $100,000 with the broker and be a premium or private client group customer. Fidelity also asks that investors take a questionnaire. Schwab's requirements are easier to meet: $100,000 in your account or 36 trades in your history.
2. Request shares
Assuming you meet the requirements for participating in an IPO, your next step will be to request a certain number of shares in the IPO. You may not be allocated all the IPO shares you offer to buy. You may be allocated a "pro rata" portion of shares instead. Just think of your request as the maximum number of shares you'd like to buy if they are available.
3. Place your order
On the evening the IPO "prices," your broker will notify you that the offering is going forward. You will be given a deadline to place your order. Only after you place the order will you find out for certain if you were able to buy any shares, but, in any case, you won't end up buying more shares than you have asked to buy, and you won't have to buy at a price higher than the price you have offered.
FAQ
IPOs: FAQ
What is an IPO in stocks?
An IPO stands for initial public offering. It refers to a company making its shares available for public ownership and trading. When the stock IPOs, it lists on a stock exchange and begins trading.
Is it a good idea to buy IPO stocks?
IPO stocks tend to be riskier than the broad stock market since these are new issues that investors are still evaluating, and the stocks are searching for their equilibrium point.
IPOs often underperform the market due to the euphoria that surrounds them when they go public, but some IPO stocks go on to be big winners.
What's the best IPO to buy now?
One of the more intriguing IPOs on the market is CoreWeave, an AI-focused cloud infrastructure company. CoreWeave's stock has soared since its debut, and it's likely to remain volatile as it's growing rapidly but still putting up wide losses.
How do I invest in IPO stocks?
Investing in IPOs once they've started trading is just like buying any other stock. If you want to buy shares before they start trading, the best thing you can do is contact your brokerage and see if you can subscribe to the IPO allotment.
Should I invest in IPO stocks?
Maybe. It depends upon your level of risk tolerance, investing horizon timeline, whether you're able to maintain realistic expectations about returns, and a few other items.
If you're considering participating in an IPO, you must be aware that they're among the riskier moves you can make as an investor. That's not necessarily a bad thing. After all, getting in on the ground floor before the stock begins trading gives you an opportunity to maximize your return on an individual stock since some stocks never fall back to their IPO price. Alternatively, these stocks may underperform because they have yet to be tested in the stock market, and IPO stocks are often money-losing start-ups to begin with, meaning they're already riskier than a typical blue chip stock.
What companies went public in January 2025?
Dozens of companies went public in 2025. Among the largest ones were Venture Global (NYSE:VG), an oil and gas company, Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD), a meat processor, and Flowco Holdings (NYSE:FLOC), an oil and gas services company.
How to buy an IPO before it goes public?
Buying an IPO before it goes public is not always easy. You'll need to check with your brokerage on their requirements, then, if you qualify, place an order. If your offer price is high enough and there is enough supply to meet your order, it will get filled.
