Shares of Klarna rose 15% in their New York Stock Exchange debut Wednesday, closing at $45.82 after the Swedish fintech priced its IPO above its expected range.
Klarna, known for its popular buy now, pay later products, priced shares at $40 on Tuesday, raising $1.37 billion for the company and existing shareholders.
The IPO marks the latest in a growing list of high-profile tech listings this year, suggesting increased demand from Wall Street for new offerings. Companies like stablecoin issuer Circle and design software platform Figma soared in their respective debuts. Meanwhile, crypto exchange Gemini is expected to go public later this week.
“To me, it really just is a milestone,” Klarna’s co-founder and CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski told CNBC in an interview on Wednesday. “It’s a little bit like a wedding. You prepare so much and you plan for it and it’s a big party. But in the end — marriage goes on.”
The stock opened at $52 before dropping as the day progressed. At the close, the company was valued at about $17.3 billion.