Reddit Shares Surge on First Day as a Public Company

The social media giant, Reddit, has gone public by way of an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States.

Reddit announced they would be offering 22,000,000 shares, with an initial share price of $34 per share under the “RDDT” ticker. However, the company’s share priced jumped 48% by the end of its first day of trading, peaking at $57.80 per share. 

In their amended S1-Filing, Reddit stated it intends to use the funds generated from the IPO for “general corporate purposes” and potentially to “acquire or invest in complementary technologies, assets or intellectual property.”

The company reserved approximately 8% of their offering for their directed share program. This program is available to certain board members, friends and family of certain employees and directors, and eligible Reddit users and moderators (who were prioritized based on their Reddit contributions). Shares purchased through this program will not be subjected to a lock-up agreement or market standoff restrictions.