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IPO trading
Take a position on high-profile companies before their IPO using CFDs on grey markets, then continue trading after the IPO launches.
Why trade IPOs with us?
Get exposure pre-IPO
Buy or sell based on your prediction of a company’s market cap
Trade after an IPO
Trade the underlying company shares with a CFD trading account
Speculate on price movements
Trade on rising and falling prices with CFDs
What is an initial public offering (IPO)
An IPO is one of the methods that companies can use to go public – which will make its stock available to retail traders and investors. The company will decide how many shares it wants to offer, and an investment bank will suggest an initial price for the shares based on the predicted demand for them. For most traders and investors, an IPO is the first opportunity to gain exposure to a company’s shares.
How can you trade an IPO?
Before the IPO: grey market
Our exclusive grey markets enable you to speculate on a company’s market cap before it lists on a stock exchange.1
You’d ‘buy’ if you think the company’s market cap will be higher than the grey market price at the end of the first trading day, or ‘sell’ if you think it will be lower.
After the IPO: trading
You can access initial public offering opportunities by speculating on the share price with CFDs.
What companies can you trade pre-IPO
Start trading on Revolut, OpenAI, SpaceX and Stripe. We’ll add additional markets as new IPOs are announced.
Market |
Value of one contract | Dealing hours | Dealing spread | Price notation | Limited risk premium | Minimum margin requirement | |
| Retail | Pro | ||||||
| OpenAI | $10 (USD) / per point |
24 hours | 25 | ($ billion/s) | N/A | 25% | 20% |
| Revolut | $10 (USD) / per point |
24 hours | 4 | ($ billion/s) | N/A | 25% | 20% |
| SpaceX | $10 (USD) / per point |
24 hours | 20 | ($ billion/s) | N/A | 25% | 20% |
| Stripe | $10 (USD) / per point |
24 hours | 6 | ($ billion/s) | N/A | 25% | 20% |
| Strava | $10 (USD) / per point |
24 hours | 2 | ($100 million/s) | N/A | 25% | 20% |
| Anthropic | $10 (USD) / per point |
24 hours | 12 | ($ billion/s) | N/A | 25% | 20% |
| Canva | $10 (USD) / per point |
24 hours | 6 | ($ billion/s) | N/A | 25% | 20% |
| Discord | $10 (USD) / per point |
24 hours | 3 | ($ billion/s) | N/A | 25% | 20% |
Notes:
- Settlement is based on the market capitalisation at the close of the initial trading day, with outstanding and optional shares excluded from the calculation
- All markets featured have a defined expiry date, at which point any remaining open positions are voided if the company has not yet completed its public offering
- Dealing hours 24/7 (apart from 6am to 4pm Saturday UTC+8)
- Minimum trade size 0.1 contracts ($1 USD / per pt)
- No overnight funding charges apply
- Expiry dates for each market can be found in the Info tab on the IG trading platform (Market Info tab on mobile)
Key pre-IPO features
Dynamic pricing
We determine the prices of our pre-IPO markets. These prices move in real-time and are affected by:
- IG client trading activity
- Breaking news about the company
- Changes to expected pricing or subscription levels
- New fund-raising announcements
- Analysts valuations and research reports
Flexible trading
- Trade 24/7 with our Pre-IPO markets2
- No charges for holding positions overnight
- Find our Pre-IPO markets on the IG web platform or app under the “IPO” and “Popular Markets” watchlists
- Take your position and go long or short on any company listed in the pre-IPO market
Built-in protection
- Every Pre-IPO market has a set expiry date, specified in-platform. This is a date by which the company needs to float
- If the company doesn't go public by this date or cancels their IPO plans, all open positions are voided without realising any profit or loss
- Any trades you've already closed before expiry will remain unchanged. This means that any realised profit or loss will not be affected even if the IPO misses its expiry date
What you need to know
Settlement: your trades are settled against the official market capitalisation at the close of the first day of unconditional trading.
International listings: if a company lists on an overseas exchange, the final valuation will be based on the foreign exchange rate at the close of trading. For example, if a UK company is quoted in terms of its USD valuation but ultimately lists in the UK, the USD valuation will be obtained using the GBP/USD rate.
Market cap focus: you're speculating on the company's total valuation, not on individual share prices.
Timing: IPO dates can change. Companies may delay or even cancel their public offering plans.
Pricing: our opening prices typically reflect market expectations, allowing you to take a view on whether the actual IPO market cap will come in above or below our initial pricing.
Post-IPO: grey market positions are cash settled and do not automatically get converted into share CFDs. If you want to continue your exposure post-IPO then you must open a separate share CFD position.
Start trading IPOs
Find our IPO markets on the IG web platform or app under the "IPO" and "Popular Markets" watchlists.
FAQs
Can I make money trading initial public offerings (IPOs)?
Yes, you can make money trading initial public offerings if you correctly predict share price movements. You can use CFDs to speculate on our grey markets before an IPO, or on share price movements after the stock has listed.
Is it a good idea to trade in an IPO?
Whether or not it is a good idea to trade in an IPO depends on your risk appetite. Some IPOs perform very well, while others can disappoint. Financial markets can be very volatile following a high-profile IPO, which is why you need a proper risk management strategy in place if you want to trade shares CFD.
Can I trade shares before the IPO?
No, but you can speculate on the share price before the IPO if IG offers a grey market. By trading a grey market, you’re speculating on a company’s potential market cap ahead of its IPO. If you think that the company will be worth more than the price indicated, you can ‘buy’ the market. If you think that the price is an overvaluation, you can ‘sell’.
Try these next
1 We do not offer grey markets on all IPOs.
2 24/7 excludes the hours from 6am to 4pm Saturday (UTC+8).
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Enjoy flexible access to more than 17,000 global markets, with reliable execution
Trade seamlessly, wherever you are
Trade on the move with our natively designed trading app
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With over 45 years of experience, we’re proud to offer a truly market-leading service
Open an account now
Fast execution on a huge range of markets
Enjoy flexible access to more than 17,000 global markets, with reliable execution
Trade seamlessly, wherever you are
Trade on the move with our natively designed trading app
Feel secure with a trusted provider
With over 45 years of experience, we’re proud to offer a truly market-leading service
Start trading now
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