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How Do I Check an IPO Status?

Kristie Lorette
Kristie Lorette

An Initial Public Offering, or IPO, occurs when a company decides to sell its stock to the public for the first time. In order for an IPO to take place, the business has to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is also known as the SEC. Several financial and business organizations track IPO filings, launch dates and more, which means that you can look the IPO status up on one of these organization’s websites or by making a phone call.

You can start determining the IPO status by searching websites that cover investment and financial matters. For example, a website may have an IPO Center that is part of the investing section of its website, dividing the IPO Center into new filings, upcoming IPO launches and the results of IPOs. Investment firm websites also tend to share this information. The SEC offers a search feature on its website where you can input the information on the IPO launch date you are looking to obtain.

Woman holding a book
Woman holding a book

When the company files the IPO, it may list the expected date for the IPO on the application. If this is the case, you can pull up the new filings information to obtain the expected date. More often than not, however, companies do not yet have an idea when the IPO will occur because the process of filing and launching an IPO can be lengthy due to approval requirements and the creation of required documents, such as the prospectus for the company stock.

This means that you will need to find lists of upcoming IPOs. While these lists do not tend to list a specific date for the initial public offering of the stock, it indicates a time frame. Time frames are typically, the month and the week of the month when the IPO is expected.

Once the IPO occurs, you can also use these resources to track the success and determine information on the IPO status. For example, all of these sites list the launch date, the price of the individual stock for the IPO, etc. You can also determine the stock exchange where the stock is trading and the underwriting company for the stock that was part of the IPO.

If you have an investment advisor, you can also contact them for information on the IPO. Even if your investment account is an online trading account, the resources and research section of investment sites also tend to offer information on the IPO status.

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