Robinhood says it filed confidentially for IPO

The online trading platform could go public as soon as late in the second quarter, a source said.

Robinhood Markets Inc. said it filed confidentially for an initial public offering, in what will be a highly anticipated listing among investors — including the trading app’s own customers.

The company said in a statement Tuesday that it had submitted its filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg. Robinhood could go public as soon as late in the second quarter but the timing could change, said a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because it wasn’t public.

Bloomberg News previously reported that Robinhood was planning to file for an IPO this month. The company has selected Nasdaq as the venue for its listing, people familiar with the matter have said.

Robinhood, which said it hasn’t set terms for the offering yet, became immensely popular during the coronavirus pandemic, particularly as homebound young people turned to online trading to pass the time and make money.

That increased popularity has led to scrutiny from politicians and regulators, who are focused on the so-called gamification of trading and the company’s role at the center of the meme-stock frenzy. Robinhood also had to raise billions of dollars from its backers to comply with a request from the industry’s clearinghouse.

Despite the challenges, Robinhood continue to grow its users and add downloads during the period, according to a JMP Securities research note from late January. The report showed Robinhood added 600,000 users in a single day, more than six times the typical number of new users during the month before the frenzy took hold.