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 -1.03%) and Apple (AAPL 0.32%), were once initial public offerings and have turned early investors into millionaires.
What is an IPO?
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 in 2023 and 2024, the IPO market has shown signs of life once again, with several new issues debuting over the last year.
1. Reddit
After a long wait, Reddit (RDDT -2.0%) finally went public in March 2024. The social media stock has been operating for almost 20 years and finally turned profitable in the second half of 2024, though it still hasn't generated a full year of profits.
The stock soared on its debut and jumped in the subsequent months as the company positioned itself as an artificial intelligence (AI) beneficiary, and its content is starting to be used for training data by companies like OpenAI. Meanwhile, Reddit's revenue growth has accelerated as it's posted strong user growth, and its advertising business seems to be coming to life.
Reddit is a unique social media company, and its value for training data makes sense. For the foreseeable future, the business is likely to be driven by advertising revenue, but AI-related licensing revenue, and future businesses like e-commerce also have the potential to deliver gains for investors.
2. Serve Robotics
Automation is a popular subject in the economy and the stock market these days as Tesla (TSLA -4.68%) pushes forward with autonomous vehicles and its autonomous robot, Optimus.
Against that backdrop, it's not surprising that Serve Robotics (SERV 2.15%) has attracted some attention since its April 2024 IPO. Serve makes food delivery robots, and it is currently contracted with a number of restaurant chains. It has also received backing from Uber (UBER 1.62%), and Nvidia (NVDA -1.5%) briefly had an investment in the stock.
Among the restaurant customers it's attracted are Shake Shack (SHAK 0.35%), Pizza Hut, and Uber Eats. In fact, Uber was a minority owner of the company before the IPO. Serve had more than 100 robots at the time of its IPO and expects to have 2,000 across the U.S. by the end of 2025. It sees an opportunity to disrupt short-distance deliveries that are typically performed with cars.
If you're looking for an opportunity in autonomous delivery, Serve seems like a good candidate, but the business is still very small, with less than $2 million in revenue in 2024.
3. ServiceTitan
Another recent IPO that has attracted some attention is ServiceTitan (TTAN 5.42%), 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.
Related investing topics
IPOs to watch
IPO stocks to watch in 2025
1. Stripe
As the most valuable privately held tech start-up 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 and was valued at $70 billion in a stock-sale deal in November 2024 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 the middle of the year. 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.
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.
4. CoreWeave
CoreWeave, an AI-focused cloud-computing platform, has already filed to go public. The company has reported explosive growth, with its revenue going from just $16 million in 2022 to $229 million in 2023 to $1.9 billion in 2024. By percentage, it grew 1,346% in 2023 and 737% in 2024. Its net loss has also expanded rapidly as it has invested in the growth opportunity in front of it. GAAP net loss went from $31 million in 2022 to $594 million in 2023 to $863 million in 2024. However, CoreWeave's adjusted net loss in 2024 was just $65 million.
The company is also a close partner of Nvidia. Given its rapid growth and position in AI, CoreWeave is likely to attract attention when it goes public.
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 Reddit, the disruptive social media platform. Reddit has soared since its IPO, with its value increasing as AI has become more prevalent.
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.
