Reddit soars on its New York debut as float-starved investors pile in to the online forum

Reddit soared in its New York debut as float-hungry investors snapped up the stock.

The social media company priced its shares in its IPO at $34. But last night, the stock traded as high as $57.80, up 70 percent from its target price.

The buying frenzy subsided during the session, with the stock – which trades under the ticker “RDDT” – finishing up almost 40 percent at around $47. This gives it a value of $7.43 billion.

Reddit’s debut as a public company has been in the works for more than two years, having first filed in December 2021 before deciding to delay due to the pandemic.

The company is an online forum where users can discuss topics of interest to them. At the end of December 2023, it had more than 73 million users.

But they don’t pay to browse, post, and comment on Reddit. Founded in 1995, the company said it was “in the early stages of monetizing its business” and had yet to turn a profit.

“The real news will come after the first earnings call: where they are going, what the results look like,” said Reena Aggarwal, director of the Psaros Center for Financial Markets at Georgetown University.