Klarna Shares Drop Below IPO Price Amid Widespread Tech Slump
Klarna’s shares reportedly dropped below their initial public offering price for the first time Friday (Sept. 26) amid a widespread weakening of technology stocks.
The company’s stock fell as low as $38.31 Friday, below the $40 IPO price on its Sept. 10 trading debut, Bloomberg reported Friday.
This week saw a slowdown in technology stocks after a record-setting rally, according to the report, and Bloomberg attributed this to some economic data that suggested the Fed might not make further interest rate cuts.
Shares of FinTech companies Affirm and Block were also down Friday, per the report.
“FinTech stocks, including Klarna, are sensitive to macroeconomic factors like interest rates and regulatory developments,” Diksha Gera, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, said in the report. “Although the Fed started cutting rates in 2025, any hint of slower-than-expected cuts or yields rising could pressure valuations and sentiment as higher yields can increase their borrowing costs.”
PYMNTS reported Friday that the Fintech IPO Index declined 3.5% this past week, erasing some of its recent gains.
Circle’s shares shrank 11.2%, DeFi Development’s shares lost 15.7%, Flywire’s stock gave up 1.9%, Sezzle shares lost 5.9% and nCino’s stock declined 7.8%.
It was reported Thursday (Sept. 25) that there was also a widespread cryptocurrency rout that wiped out more than $140 million in market value since the beginning of the week.
As of Thursday, the price of ether had dropped by as much as 4.7% to its lowest point in almost seven weeks, while bitcoin fell 1.7%. Ether is the second most popular cryptocurrency, and bitcoin is the most popular form of crypto.
Rachel Lucas, a crypto analyst at BTC Markets, said ether’s downturn came as “institutional inflows cooled” with “technical signals pointing to short-term pressure.”
When Klarna went public on Sept. 10, its shares opened at about $52, peaked near $57 and ultimately settled around $45.82, a 15% gain over its IPO price.
The company reported Thursday that more than 1 million Americans had signed up for its Klarna Card in the 11 weeks since its July 4 launch in the United States. The card gives users the choice of paying in debit or pay later mode.
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