Halt and Catch Fire: IPO Market Accelerates After Sleepy Summer 

When equities went tumbling in the spring due to a maelstrom of trade policy announcements, plans for IPOs were shelved faster than canned goods at a superstore.

It was uncertain then when those IPO plans would re-materialize, but this week offers an answer: Ticket reseller StubHub, one of the firms that temporarily canned its listing plans in April, said Monday that it will target a valuation of up to $9.2 billion in its IPO. Meanwhile, a slew of other companies are preparing for debuts this week, including much-ballyhooed fintech Klarna.

Off the Shelf

Equities have climbed out of their spring slump, and the S&P 500, as of Monday, is up 10% on the year, with upbeat tech earnings to thank. The resurgence, replete with all-time high valuations, has left many analysts hoping this fall will mark a long-awaited awakening of the IPO market, which has been quiet since hitting a record in 2021 (before interest rates and inflation went up, and the SPAC bubble lost its altitude).

In recent months, there have been signs of nascent activity, much of it from crypto and tech IPOs. And that’s what makes the investor appetite for StubHub and Klarna especially compelling at a time when consumer sentiment is slumping. StubHub, which lets users resell tickets for concerts, sports games and other live events, plans to raise up to $851 billion at a $9.2 billion valuation by offering 34 million shares for $22 to $25. Klarna, arguably the best-known buy now, pay later firm, is aiming to raise roughly $1.3 billion at a $14 billion valuation through a sale of 34 million shares priced at $35 to $37. In any case, the performance of newly listed stocks this year suggests one should think before buying, whether now or later:

• While many IPOs have rocketed out of the gate this year, they’ve also moderated with time. Stablecoin firm Circle closed at $112 on Monday, more than 60% below its $298 high. Crypto exchange Bullish, which jumped 83% on its debut last month, is now trading at $50, down about 57% from its $118 peak. And Cloud-based interface design company Figma, which closed at $52, is down 63% from its $142 high.
• Klarna shares could trade on the New York Stock Exchange as soon as Wednesday, while other stocks slated to debut this week include crypto exchange Gemini Space Station, engineering firm Legence, blockchain fintech Figure and cafe chain Black Rock Coffee.

The Waiting Game: The standard lockup period for IPOs, during which company insiders can’t sell shares, is 180 days. After this time, by which point newly listed firms will have also made their first public financial report, shares often fall. In StubHub’s case, it’s worth noting the company said it lost $76 million in the first half of 2025 on $873 million in revenue, more than the $24 million it lost in the same period last year. Klarna disclosed a second-quarter loss of $53 million, up from $18 million in the same period a year earlier.