Klarna’s highly anticipated public market debut is the latest in what has shaped up to be a hot market for initial public offerings. The buy now, pay later company is expected to make its debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday and will be listed under the ticker symbol “KLAR.” It priced its IPO at $40 on Tuesday, above the expected range of $35 to $37, valuing the company at about $15 billion. The excitement helped propel the Renaissance IPO ETF , which holds the biggest, most liquid U.S.-listed newly public stocks, to a three-year high. IPO 5Y mountain Renaissance IPO ETF five-year performance Klarna is the largest of several IPOs expected this week and comes on the heels of Figma’s eye-popping debut in late July. The software company gained 250% on its first day of trading, but has since retreated from its highs. Crypto exchange Bullish and stablecoin issuer Circle are also among those who began publicly trading this year . That booming IPO market doesn’t seem to be losing steam anytime soon, suggested Matthew Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital. One reason is supply. There is a three-year bottleneck of companies waiting to come public, he said. “The VC-backed tech group has really been swelling with unicorns and they are now ready to go public,” Kennedy told CNBC’s ” Squawk Box ” on Wednesday. “At the same time, on the demand side, investors are finally willing to pay at least valuations that the VC-backed tech companies can accept.” Plus, the interest rates are headed down as the Federal Reserve resumes easing and the Cboe Volatility Index is low, both of which are bullish for IPOs, he said. “A lot of things have been moving in the right direction,” Kennedy said. “Recent pops, I think, are fueling excitement as well.”
