By Corrie Driebusch

Chime Financial's stock jumped in its stock-market debut Thursday, the latest sign the U.S. initial public offering market is awakening.

The details

Shares of the financial technology company jumped nearly 50% from their IPO price of $27 in trading Thursday. The stock recently traded at around $40, giving the company a nearly $15 billion market capitalization.

Chime offers banking services through its smartphone app. It doesn't charge account fees or require minimum balances and gives users early access to paychecks. The app's popularity boomed during the Covid-19 pandemic, when people wanted to quickly access their stimulus checks.

The context

New listings have faced a tough market over the past three years, as interest rates rose and investors re-evaluated the big valuations they previously gave buzzy startups. Shares of companies that went public in the U.S. in 2020 and 2021 tumbled, and for years the majority traded below their IPO prices.

Chime was among the companies whose valuations dropped from the heady fundraising days of the pandemic. The company raised $750 million in 2021, valuing the company at roughly $25 billion. Even with Thursday's gains, the company's value remains below that level.

"Valuations fluctuate based on things out of our control," Chime CEO Chris Britt said Thursday, adding that since the 2021 raise the company has grown substantially.

This year was supposed to be a turning point for IPOs. Early investors pushed companies to list shares and give them a way to cash out.

But then President Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs jolted major stock indexes, delaying companies from going public. Chime, online ticket platform StubHub and buy-now-pay-later fintech company Klarna all delayed their offerings.

Optimism has picked up again in recent weeks. Crypto firm Circle Internet Group made its debut last week and its shares recently traded at $110 apiece, more than triple their IPO price. Space-and- defense technology company Voyager Technologies ended its first day of trading earlier this week up more than 80%. These successes bode well for companies still waiting in the wings to go public, including StubHub and Klarna.

Write to Corrie Driebusch at corrie.driebusch@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 12, 2025 15:19 ET (19:19 GMT)

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