Reddit aims to launch IPO in March, sources say, in first stock market debut of a social media firm since 2019

Social media platform Reddit has drawn up detailed plans to launch its initial public offering (IPO) in March, moving forward with a listing it has been eyeing for more than three years, according to people familiar with the matter.

It would be the first IPO of a major social media company since Pinterest’s debut in 2019, and would come as Reddit and its peers face stiff competition for advertising dollars from the likes of TikTok and Facebook.

Reddit, which filed confidentially for its IPO in December 2021, is planning to make its public filing in late February, launch its roadshow in early March, and complete the IPO by the end of March, two of the sources said.

The San Francisco-based company, which was valued at about US$10 billion in a funding round in 2021, is seeking to sell about 10 per cent of its shares in the IPO, the sources added. It will decide on what IPO valuation it will pursue closer to the time of the listing, according to the sources.

The sources cautioned that Reddit’s IPO plans could be pushed back, as has happened in the past, and asked not to be identified discussing confidential deliberations.

A Reddit spokesperson declined to comment.

The company, which generates its revenue primarily through advertising and also offers premium access for US$5.99 per month, has yet to turn a profit, Huffman said in a Reddit post last June.

In the past, the company has attributed its losses to investing in the platform and its users engaging less with advertising on its site than other social media.

The company held back from pulling the IPO trigger until it came closer to profitability. Bouts of market volatility that shut down the IPO market for much of the last two years also contributed to it delaying its plans.

Reddit expected to generate slightly over US$800 million in advertising revenue in 2023, up more than 20 per cent from a year earlier, The Information reported last month.

Large social media stocks have rebounded over the past year, driven mainly by a rally in technology stocks as interest rates peaked. Shares of Meta Platforms, which operates Facebook, have more than trebled in value over the past 12 months, while Snap’s shares rose 60 per cent over the same period.