Klarna Debuts on Wall Street at a $19 Billion Valuation as the BNPL Giant Raises $1.37 Billion

Summary: Shares in buy-now, pay-later lender Klarna jumped on their first day of public trading in the United States on 10 September 2025, giving the Swedish firm a market value of more than $19 billion (£14 billion). The company raised $1.37 billion in its initial public offering, selling shares alongside some longtime investors at $40 apiece; the stock opened at $52, surged 30% from the IPO price, and settled around $46 by the end of the day, valuing the firm at about $17 billion.

The listing

The debut marks a significant milestone for the Swedish lending giant, which has cast itself as a challenger to credit cards and traditional banks. The IPO priced at $40 per share - a level that valued the firm at $15 billion - and the shares raised $1.37 billion for the company and longtime investors selling alongside it. At the open the stock traded at $52, lifting the valuation above $19 billion, before drifting lower to settle around $46 and a $17 billion value by the close.

In a message to staff shared by the company, chief executive Sebastian Siemiatkowski said the moment would provide "fuel" as Klarna seeks to make similar inroads in other markets. The listing completes a long runway: the firm has been eyeing a public offering for years, and a plan to debut in April was delayed after US tariff announcements roiled financial markets. US shares have since recovered, with major indexes trading at record highs, and several other firms - including crypto firm Gemini - planned public offerings the same week to take advantage of the favorable climate.

The business behind the ticker

Founded in 2005, Klarna is known for allowing shoppers to pay for purchases in smaller, interest-free installments. It has more than 100 million active users across 26 countries and handled transactions worth $105 billion last year. The company entered the UK in 2014 and the US in 2019; in its home country of Sweden, more than 80% of adults used the service last year, according to the company. Last year Klarna reported revenue of $2.8 billion, up 24% year on year - but since entering the US its profitability has suffered as it faces higher costs for processing transactions, and it reported a $52 million loss in the three months to June, up from $7 million a year ago.

How investors were told to read it

IPO price $40 per share; $1.37 billion raised selling shares alongside longtime investors.
Opening price $52 (+30%): valuation jumped from $15 billion to more than $19 billion.
First-day close around $46: about $17 billion.
Still a discount to 2021, when a SoftBank Group investment valued the firm at more than $45 billion before the economic slowdown and rising interest rates hit.

Joakim Dal, a partner at Bullhound Capital, told the BBC's Opening Bell show that he thought investors had misunderstood Klarna, which makes the bulk of its money by charging a fee to sellers for purchases involving its pay-later service. "In our view it's more of a payment company than a lender," he said, noting the "very low" rates of late payments - the business, in his framing, is about facilitating a smooth experience on the payment side rather than providing credit to consumers. He added that for any technology company looking to go public, there is only one market - Wall Street - because that is where the liquidity, analyst coverage, comparable companies and highest valuations are.

The questions that remain

The firm has faced ongoing questions about the risk that its business model could lead people to spend beyond their means. The public listing puts those questions inside a quarterly reporting discipline: a company that reported a widening quarterly loss in the US now has public-market shareholders watching every installment-fee margin and processing-cost line.