By Michael Liedtke and Wyatte Grantham-Philips, Associated PressReddit CEO Steve Huffman signs a book on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor, prior to his company's IPO, Thursday, March. 21, 2024. The market debut is likely to spur a flurry of commentary on Reddit’s own platform, as well as competing social media outlets.
While trading had yet to begin by late morning, Reena Aggarwal, director of Georgetown University’s Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy, said she expects Reddit to open high. Per the usual IPO custom, the remaining shares are expected to be bought primarily by mutual funds and other institutional investors betting Reddit is ready for prime time in finance.
Reddit has never profited from its broad reach while piling up cumulative losses of $717 million. That number has swollen from cumulative losses of $467 million in December 2021 when the company first filed papers to go public before aborting that attempt. Reddit outlined a strategy in its filing calling for even more ad sales on a service that it believes companies will be a powerful marketing magnet because so many people search for product recommendations there.