In this articleETORFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTOmar Marques | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesShares of stock brokerage platform eToro popped in their Nasdaq debut on Wednesday after the company raised almost $310 million in its initial public offering.The stock opened at $69.69, or 34% above its IPO, pushing its market cap to $5.6 billion. Shares were last up more than 30%.The Israel-based company sold nearly six million shares at $52 each, above the expected range of $46 to $50. Almost six million additional shares were sold by existing investors. At the IPO price, the company was valued at roughly $4.2 billion.Wall Street is looking to the Robinhood competitor for signs of renewed interest in IPOs after an extended drought. Many investors saw President Donald Trump’s return to the White House as a catalyst before tariff concerns led companies to delay their plans.”We felt that we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel of the correction in the markets,” CEO Yoni Assia said of eToro’s decision to go public in an interview with CNBC. The company was looking for a key measure of market volatility known as the CBOE Volatility Index to stabilize in the wake of tariff concerns, he added.Etoro isn’t the only company attempting to test the waters. Fintech company Chime filed its prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, while digital physical therapy company Hinge Health kickstarted its IPO roadshow, and said in a filing it aims to raise up to $437 million in its offering.EToro had previously filed to go public in 2021 through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, that would have valued it at more than $10 billion. It shelved those plans in 2022 as equity markets nosedived, but remained focused on an eventual IPO.EToro was founded in 2007 by brothers Yoni and Ronen Assia and David Ring. The company makes money through trading-related fees and nontrading activities such as withdrawals. Net income increased almost thirteenfold last year to $192.4 million from $15.3 million in 2023.The company has steadily built a growing business in cryptocurrencies. Revenue from crypto assets more than tripled to upward of $12 million in 2024, and one-quarter of its net trading contribution stemmed from crypto last year. That is up from 10% in 2023.EToro said that for the first quarter, it expects crypto assets to account for 37% of its commission from trading activities, down from 43% a year earlier.Spark Capital is the company’s biggest outside investor, with 14% control after the offering, followed by BRM Group at 8.7%. CEO Yoni Assia controls 9.3%.Read more CNBC tech newsPerplexity partners with PayPal for in-chat shopping as AI race heats upChinese tech giant Tencent posts 13% revenue jump as growth at key gaming unit surgesStock and crypto trading site eToro prices IPO at $52 per share ahead of Nasdaq debutEpic Systems sued by CureIS Healthcare for alleged ‘scheme to destroy’ its businessGoogle is testing AI search on its homepageWATCH: Etoro IPO …
