IPOs are among the most-watched events in the stock markets, and rightly so. They bring new blood to the market’s body in the form of new stocks for investors to trade in. IPO action keeps the markets fresh and injects new capital into companies of every stripe.
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The most recent past quarter, 3Q25, showed a jump in IPO activity. The quarter saw the most IPOs since 2021 and the most $100-million deals – a total of 23 – since the same year. In all, there were 60 IPOs in 3Q25, and they raised a total of $14.6 billion – and that figure represented a powerful jump from the $2.4 billion raised in 3Q24.
The stock analysts at Goldman Sachs have been monitoring the recent IPOs, watching to see just how they measure up in their early days of public trading. We’ve used the TipRanks database to look behind the scenes at two of these new IPO stocks, and we’ve checked in with the Goldman analysts to see which one they’ve picked as the superior stock to buy. Here are the details.
Klarna Group (KLAR)
The first stock on our radar here is Klarna Group, a Swedish-based technology firm with a global footprint. Klarna’s focus is on online financial services and payment processing for e-commerce. The company manages both store claims and customer payments, and specializes in offering ‘buy now, pay later’ services to customers.
Klarna currently has some 111 million customers on its rolls, making use of the company’s payment services for online shopping. On the merchant side, Klarna has 790,000 businesses using the service. The customer and merchant user base, combined, spans 26 countries – and the company handles $112 billion in gross merchandise volume. Among the brand names that make use of Klarna’s services are such major names as Spotify, Samsung, Ralph Lauren, Airbnb, and Ikea.
Looking at the company’s IPO, we find that Klarna’s shares started trading on the NYSE on September 10. The initial price was set at $40 per common share, a figure that was $4 higher than the midpoint of the originally estimated range. The company’s offering totaled 34,311,274 common shares, of which 29,311,274 were put on the market by ‘certain selling shareholders’ and 5,000,000 shares were put up for sale by Klarna.
Klarna’s stock opened for trading at $52 per share, and the company’s IPO raised a total of $1.37 billion for the company and the selling shareholders. Klarna raised $222 million from the shares it put on the market. Today, approximately one month after the initial offering, Klarna boasts a market cap of ~$15 billion.
For Goldman analyst Will Nance, this newly public stock offers a sound route for investors to buy into the online financial services sector.
“We view Klarna as the market leader in Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) solutions, with a particularly strong franchise in Europe, where we believe Klarna is a new, emerging closed loop payment scheme, similar to American Express in the United States… While we acknowledge the cyclicality of the consumer finance end market, and the favorable market conditions currently, through the cycle, we see Klarna as consistent share gainer over time, benefiting from 1) share shifts to the BNPL category, 2) network effects, particularly in Europe, and 3) further geographical expansion,” Nance noted.
For Nance, this adds up to a Buy rating on KLAR. His price target of $55 points toward a 12-month gain of ~42%. (To watch Nance’s track record, click here)
From the Street as a whole, KLAR shares get a Strong Buy rating, based on 14 recent reviews that favor Buys over Holds by a 11-to-3 margin. The stock is currently trading for $38.79, and its $50.46 average target price implies a one-year upside potential of 30%. (See KLAR stock forecast)
Gemini Space Station (GEMI)
The next stock we’ll look at here is Gemini, another tech firm. Gemini gives its customers an online crypto trading app and web wallet. The company is a registered crypto exchange and custodian that is positioning itself as a link between the more traditional financial services sector and the fast-growing cryptocurrency economy. Gemini provides an opening for both institutions and individuals to enter the decentralized, crypto-centered future, where they can take advantage of open, fair, and secure financial service options.
The Gemini app is designed for mobile use and is available on both iOS and Android devices. The company boasts multiple regulatory registrations, including ISO 27001 and PCI DSS, which speak to the quality and security of its Information Security Management System and to the safety and security of the Gemini Credit Card. This brings us to the company’s chief consumer perk – a credit card linked to the user’s crypto trading account.
Gemini’s credit card is offered with no annual fees and a ‘crypto back’ reward of up to 4% on every purchase. The Bitcoin rewards offered on the card are a real investment opportunity – unlike the point rewards offered by other cards, Bitcoin will appreciate over time, and Gemini boasts that the Bitcoin rewards it has given, which are held for at least one year, have appreciated by 277%.
That’s the background to this company – a foundation in sound financial services designed to give users access to the esoteric cryptocurrency marketplace. The company has been providing these services since 2014 and went public in September of this year.
In its IPO, Gemini’s stock started trading on September 12. The offering had an aggregate of 15,937,501 shares of Class A common stock and included, with the underwriters’ over-allotment option, 300,565 shares sold by Gemini and 458,364 shares sold by the selling stockholders. Gemini did not receive proceeds from the shares sold by the selling stockholders. The stock was priced at $28 per share, and the IPO raised over $446 million in gross proceeds. Since the event, the stock has declined by 30%, and Gemini’s market cap now stands at just over $3 billion.
This crypto exchange has caught the eye of James Yaro. The 5-star analyst, in his coverage of GEMI for Goldman, takes a cautious approach here and lays out reasons why investors should be wary. He says of the stock,
“Despite the constructive growth outlook, lack of profitability, and cyclical and competitive questions keep us on the sidelines. GEMI faces cyclical risk, in terms of: 1) an uncertain path to profitability, as we forecast positive adjusted EBITDA only in 2028E. 2) In addition, rapid credit card business growth introduces both credit and interest rate risk in an economic downturn. 3) While regulatory reform could increase the crypto TAM, it could also enhance competition from across financial services. This could pressure GEMI’s market share and pricing over time.”
These comments are accompanied by a Neutral (i.e., Hold) rating, and Yaro’s $25 price target implies a 7% upside for the coming year; the stock is currently priced at $23.30. (To watch Yaro’s track record, click here)
Turning now to the rest of the Street, opinions are split almost evenly. 6 Buys and 5 Holds add up to a Moderate Buy consensus rating. At $31.64, the average price target brings the upside potential to ~36%.
With the facts and stats laid out on KLAR and GEMI, it’s clear that Goldman Sachs sees Klarna as the superior stock to buy after its recent IPO.
To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analyst. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.