Reddit’s IPO Plans: Anticipated $748M Raise, But Potentially Classified as a ‘Meme’ Stock Due to Redditors’ Immediate Selling Rights
In a new SEC filing, Reddit says it’s planning to sell around 22 million shares, priced between $31 to $34, potentially raising around $748 million at the high end of that range.
But the IPO could be volatile given that Reddit will allow its community members to sell their shares immediately, instead of being subject to the usual lock-up agreements that typically prevent investors from selling shares for six months after the IPO.
The move sets up Reddit to become a meme stock — a term coined in reference to the wild GameStop short squeeze of 2021, which was driven by a group of Reddit users on its community r/WallStreetBets.
The users had taken on the hedge funds that had shorted GameStop’s stock by over 100% by working collectively to buy the stock.
By allowing the Reddit community to buy into the IPO, there’s again potential for the stock to be manipulated — this time, possibly in Reddit’s favor — by Redditors’ collective action.
