11 Best IPO Stocks to Buy Now

Published September 13, 2021 at 3:02 pm EDT Updated August 19, 2026 at 5:20 am EDT

In this article, we will take a look at the 11 best IPO stocks to buy now.

Wall Street has been witnessing a frenzy of initial public offerings (IPOs) for quite some time now. As the global health crisis hit the financial markets in the initial months of 2020, the first half of the year turned out badly for the IPO markets. After a subtle recovery in the economies and the announcement of stimulus packages in June, the IPOs delivered a ground-breaking performance in the second half of 2020, pushing the trend in 2021 as well.

According to a report by Baker McKenzie, in 2020, the IPO activity was recorded highest in a decade with 1,591 listings raising $331 billion across the world. Some of the high-profile companies that debuted on the market in 2020 include Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ: ABNB), Snowflake Inc. (NYSE: SNOW), DoorDash, Inc. (NYSE: DASH), and Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR). The Renaissance IPO Index, an index listing the newly public companies in the U.S., gained 44.07% in the past year, versus 31.7% gains of S&P 500 index.

As 2021 followed the course, many big names launched their IPOs. According to a report by Ernst & Young, the first half of 2021 has seen a 150% annual increase in IPOs, as 1,070 IPOs have raised $222 billion in proceeds.

Some of the big names that went public in 2021 so far include UiPath Inc. (NYSE: PATH), Coupang, Inc. (NYSE: CPNG), Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD), and Procore Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: PCOR). Coupang, Inc. (NYSE: CPNG) had one of the biggest IPOs of 2021 so far with a $60 billion valuation. The company raised $4.6 billion in its IPO.

Investing in IPOs is somehow beneficial for investors as the initial share price can be of good value. The data collected by an IPO expert Jay Ritter states that in 2020, the average first-day return for IPOs was 41.6%. However, one should not invest blindly in IPO stocks. According to Forbes, only 40% of the IPOs from 1975 to 2011 generated profits five years after they went public, while 60% of them failed to make their mark in the financial market.

Our Methodology:

With this context, let’s analyze our list of the 11 best IPO stocks to buy now. We took into account companies that went public in 2020 and 2021, analysts’ ratings, long-term growth potential, and fundamentals while choosing these stocks. By “IPO stocks” we mean companies that went public recently.

Photo by Jeremy Bezanger on Unsplash

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11 Best IPO Stocks to Buy Now

11. AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ: APP)

IPO Date: April 15, 2021
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 16

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ: APP) is a global software company that provides solutions to mobile app developers to grow their apps. Over 9,000 developers are using the company’s software with customers in over 130 countries. AppLovin Corporation ranks eleventh on our list of the best IPO stocks to buy now.

AppLovin Corporation went public on April 15, 2021, and raised $1.8 billion in its IPO. Though the stock closed down 18.5% from its IPO price of $80 per share on its first trading day, it did hit a high in June, reaching $88.2. In Q2 2021, AppLovin Corporation posted revenue of $668.8 million, presenting a 123.4% year-over-year growth. Recently. Morgan Stanley upgraded AppLovin Corporation to ‘Equal Weight’, with a $60 price target. The stock has soared 21.6% since its IPO.

As of Q2 2021, 16 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey have positions in AppLovin Corporation, worth $987.9 million.

Like Snowflake Inc., Airbnb, Inc., UiPath Inc., DoorDash, Inc., Coupang, Inc., and Palantir Technologies Inc., AppLovin Corporation is one of the notable IPO stocks gaining investors’ attention in 2021.

10. Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ: LI)

IPO Date: July 30, 2020
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 20

Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ: LI) is a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, headquartered in Beijing. The company mainly designs, manufactures, and markets premium smart electric vehicles. Its ranks tenth on our list of the best IPO stocks to buy now.

Li Auto Inc. went public in July 2020 and raised $1.1 billion in its IPO. The company priced its IPO at $11.50 per share, above its proposed range of $8 to $10 per share. In Q1 2021, Li Auto Inc. delivered 12,579 vehicles, presenting a 334% year-over-year growth. The company recently raised $1.5 billion in Hong Kong listing, pricing 100 million shares at HK$118 apiece. In July, Goldman Sachs lifted its price target on Li Auto Inc. to $62, with a ‘Buy’ rating on the shares.

As of Q2 2021, 20 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey have positions in Li Auto Inc., up from 18 in the previous quarter. The stakes are valued at $457.4 million.

Like Snowflake Inc., Airbnb, Inc., UiPath Inc., DoorDash, Inc., Coupang, Inc., and Palantir Technologies Inc., Li Auto Inc. is one of the notable IPO stocks gaining investors’ attention in 2021.

9. Compass, Inc. (NYSE: COMP)

IPO Date: April 1, 2021
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 23

Compass, Inc. (NYSE: COMP) is an American real estate company that uses technology and the internet as a marketing medium. The company has an agent-centric platform with over 20,000 agents who earn a percentage of the selling price.

Compass, Inc. launched its IPO on April 1, 2021, and raised $450 million. The company priced its IPO at $18 per share, downsizing from its initial range of $23 to $26. In Q2 2021, Compass, Inc. reported revenue of $1.95 billion, up 185.9% from the prior-year quarter and beating the consensus by $380 million. Recently, Compass Point upgraded Compass, Inc. to ‘Buy’ with a $20 price target. For FY21, the company expects revenue of $6.15 billion to $6.35 billion. Compass, Inc. gained 20.3% in the past month.

As of Q2 2021, 23 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey have positions in Compass, Inc., worth $708.4 million. In addition to Snowflake Inc., Airbnb, Inc., UiPath Inc., DoorDash, Inc., Coupang, Inc., and Palantir Technologies Inc., analysts and investors are paying attention to Compass, Inc. due to the company’s long-term growth potential.

ClearBridge Investments released its first-quarter 2021 investor letter and mentioned Compass, Inc. in it. Here is what the firm has to say:

“Compass also falls in the software camp. The real estate technology company and brokerage is disrupting the traditional residential broker market with tools that improve operational efficiency for brokers. Their tools have first-mover advantage in the industry and are attracting top brokers from the best markets, resulting in significant market share gains in a short period of time.”

8. Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD)

IPO Date: July 28, 2021
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: N/A

Robinhood Markets, Inc. is an American financial services company specializing in commission-free investing via its mobile app which was introduced in 2015. The company has over 21.3 million monthly active users (MAUs), with $102 billion assets under custody.

Robinhood Markets, Inc. went public on July 28, 2021, and raised nearly $2 billion in its IPO. It sold 52.4 million shares, valuing it at $32 billion. The company now has a market cap of $39.1 billion. After its IPO, Robinhood Markets, Inc. attracted bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts. Mizuho Securities, KeyBanc, and Citigroup initiated their coverage on Robinhood Markets, Inc. with a ‘Buy’ rating. Mizuho appreciated the company’s MAUs and the inclination of 50% of all new U.S. retail accounts towards the company. The firm established a $68 price target on the stock. Robinhood Markets, Inc. soared 33.34% since its IPO.

Like Snowflake Inc., Airbnb, Inc., UiPath Inc., DoorDash, Inc., Coupang, Inc., and Palantir Technologies Inc., Robinhood Markets, Inc. is one of the notable IPO stocks gaining investors’ attention.

7. Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR)

IPO Date: September 23, 2020
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 26

Palantir Technologies Inc. is an American software company that specializes in big data analytics. The company has entered into a strategic partnership with a leading automotive technology company, Faurecia, to enhance its efforts towards digital transformation. Palantir Technologies Inc. ranks seventh on our list of the best IPO stocks to buy now.

Palantir Technologies Inc. launched its IPO in September 2020, 17 years after it was founded. The company started trading at $10, giving it an initial valuation of about $22 billion. In Q2 2021, Palantir Technologies Inc. reported an EPS of $0.04, beating the consensus by $0.01. The consolidated revenue stood at $375.6 million, up 49.1% from the prior-year quarter. Recently, Morgan Stanley lifted its price target on Palantir Technologies Inc. to $25 from $20. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has delivered a 10.01% return to shareholders, while its 12-month returns are up by 170.6%.

Of the 873 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 26 funds have positions in Palantir Technologies Inc. in Q2 2021, worth $1.36 billion. ARK Investment Management is the company’s leading shareholder with shares worth $808.7 million.

In addition to Snowflake Inc., Airbnb, Inc., UiPath Inc., DoorDash, Inc., and Coupang, Inc., analysts are paying attention to Palantir Technologies Inc. due to the company’s long-term growth potential.

Guardian Fund released its second-quarter 2021 investor letter and mentioned Palantir Technologies Inc. in it. Here is what the firm has to say:

“The success of the private sector to innovate in order to help people through the lockdowns and to produce vaccines at record speed at scale has been impressive. The fact that almost every public institution was struggling to be effective no matter how hard some of the people worked, shows the fundamental need of the public sector to become data-driven and invest in data infrastructure.

Government institutions have to partner with enterprises such as Palantir to become digitalnative. The public sector will always struggle to attract the most talented engineers as compensations cannot be justified with tax money and therefore this must be a partnership with specialized private enterprises. This is a great opportunity for Palantir especially as it has already shown to be capable of working with demanding and complex public institutions entrusting it to work on the most critical and sensitive matters.

The news section of Palantir’s website gives insight in where new business is coming from. The main opportunity is in enterprise software and the faster onboarding time and increased self-service of clients is a positive sign. We believe Palantir is becoming one of the more important global software companies.

In addition, Palantir has quietly become a significant investor, investing well over USD 200 million in eight companies. Thereby, it is following the lead of companies like Tencent, Alphabet, and Shopify of establishing valuable investment portfolios.”

6. Procore Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: PCOR)

IPO Date: May 19, 2021
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 28

Procore Technologies, Inc. is an American company that provides services in construction management software. Its platform connects stakeholders in the construction industry through its software built for the specific industry. Procore Technologies, Inc. has completed over 1 million projects valued at $1 trillion.

Procore Technologies, Inc. raised nearly $635 million in its IPO in May 2021. The stock rose 31% on its first trading day, much above its IPO price. Procore Technologies, Inc. sold nearly $9.5 million shares at $67 per share. In Q2 2021, the company posted revenue of $122.7 million, presenting 27.2% year-over-year growth. In August, Canaccord lifted its price target on Procore Technologies, Inc. to $110, with a ‘Buy’ rating on the shares. The stock has delivered a 7.29% return since its IPO.

As of Q2 2021, 28 hedge funds have positions in Procore Technologies, Inc., worth over $2.08 billion. Like Snowflake Inc., Airbnb, Inc., UiPath Inc., DoorDash, Inc., Coupang, Inc., and Palantir Technologies Inc., Procore Technologies, Inc. is one of the notable IPO stocks gaining investors’ attention in 2021.

5. Coupang, Inc. (NYSE: CPNG)

IPO Date: March 11, 2021
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 33

Coupang, Inc. ranks fifth on our list of the best IPO stocks to buy now. It is an e-commerce company based in South Korea and has expanded its operations in Malaysia, Japan, and Tokyo. The company holds 24% of South Korea’s e-commerce market share.

Coupang, Inc. went public on March 11, 2021, raising $4.55 billion in its IPO and valuing the company at $60 billion. The company priced its shares at $35 per share, above its range of $32-$34 per share. On its first trading day, Coupang, Inc. gained 40%, becoming one of the largest IPOs of 2021 so far. In Q2 2021, the company posted revenue of $4.48 billion, beating the estimates by $50 million. Recently, Daiwa upgraded Coupang, Inc. to ‘Buy’, with a $43 price target after the strong Q2 results.

As of Q2 2021, 33 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey have positions in Coupang, Inc., worth over $18 billion.

4. DoorDash, Inc. (NYSE: DASH)

IPO Date: December 9, 2020
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 45

DoorDash, Inc. is an online food ordering and food delivery company based in San Francisco, U.S. In July, the company collected 57% of U.S. consumers’ delivery sales and is regarded as the largest food delivery company in the U.S. DoorDash, Inc. ranks fourth on our list of the best IPO stocks to buy now.

DoorDash, Inc. went public in December 2020 and raised $3.37 billion in its IPO. The stock started trading at $182 per share, climbing as high as $189.51. According to the analysts, the solid IPO of DoorDash, Inc. was due to the pandemic-fueled increase in demand for online delivery services. In Q2 2021, DoorDash, Inc. posted revenue of $1.24 billion, presenting an 83.7% year-over-year growth. The stock has soared by 35.02% since the beginning of the year. In August, RBC Capital lifted its price target on DoorDash, Inc. to $210, with an ‘Outperform’ rating on the shares.

In Q2 2021, DoorDash, Inc. appeared to be the popular investment as 45 hedge funds have positions in the company, compared with 38 in the previous quarter. The total value of these stakes is approximately $9 billion.

3. UiPath Inc. (NYSE: PATH)

IPO Date: April 21, 2021
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 46

UiPath Inc. is a global software company that facilitates other companies to automate their business processes. The company offers an end-to-end automation platform while combining the robotic process automation (RPA) solution. UiPath Inc. has over 8,500 customers located worldwide.

UiPath Inc. went public on April 21, 2021, and raised $1.34 billion. The shares of the company started selling at $56 per share on its first trading day, compared with its expected price of $52 per share. The IPO of UiPath Inc. will be the third-biggest for U.S. software company, following Snowflake Inc. and a Utah-based software company, Qualtrics. In Q2 2021, UiPath Inc. posted an EPS of $0.02, beating the consensus by $0.07. The revenue also presented a 64% year-over-year growth at $186.2 million. In June, BMO capital lifted its price target on UiPath Inc. to $85, with a ‘Market Perform’ rating on the shares.

As of Q2 2021, 46 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey have positions in UiPath Inc., worth $3.45 billion.

ClearBridge Investments released its Q2 2021 investor letter and mentioned UiPath Inc. in it. Here is what the firm has to say:

“We participated in the IPO of UiPath, a developer of software for robotic process automation that uses AI, natural language processing and design to streamline complex processes across a variety of technology environments. The company is an industry leader with a superior solution for leveraging software to optimize workloads. Organizations around the world are beginning to understand the power of automation, with momentum picking up toward fully automating business processes, a $60 billion market today that could grow to $200 billion or more by 2030. UiPath has a unique pricing model, broad partner ecosystem and thoughtful management team supporting one of the strongest growth profiles in technology. Risks we are watching include a partial cloud transition ahead and increased competition from larger software platforms over time.”

2. Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ: ABNB)

IPO date: December 9, 2020
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 58

Airbnb, Inc. is a vacation rental company that facilitates an online marketplace for lodging and tourism activities. The company has over 4 million Hosts who have accommodated more than 900 million guests in 220 countries. Airbnb, Inc. ranks second on our list of the best IPO stocks to buy now.

Airbnb, Inc. had a solid IPO on December 9, 2020, raising $3.5 billion. Shares of the company opened trading at $146 per share, doubling the original price of $68 per share. The company faced speculations by analysts about its timing to go public when the world is caught in the vortex of the health crisis. The CEO of Airbnb, Inc. shed light on the company’s ways to shape travel plans due to the remote work policy, allowing people to travel anytime. In Q2 2021, Airbnb, Inc. posted a gross booking value of $13.4 billion versus the estimates of $11.2 billion. Recently, HSBC lifted its price target on the stock to $219, with a ‘Buy’ rating on the shares. Airbnb, Inc. has delivered a 10.7% return since its IPO.

Of the 873 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 58 funds have positions in Airbnb, Inc., up from 52 in the previous quarter. These stakes are valued at over $2.7 billion.

Worm Capital LLC recently released its second-quarter 2021 investor letter and mentioned Airbnb, Inc.. Here is what the firm has to say:

“Throughout the quarter, you may have noticed that we averaged into a significant position in Airbnb (ABNB). Though the stock has been a relative underperformer since its February highs, we are highly confident about the company’s prospects and its ability to generate meaningful compounded returns over time.

Some history: We have been following Airbnb’s journey for several years, long before the company went public earlier this year. (In fact, nine years ago, in November 2012, Eric profiled the company for Inc.: “Airbnb Is Changing Travel.”)

Whenever we underwrite a new investment, we look for a few key attributes that help us determine the potential long-term value of a business, as well as its risks. In particular, we focus on management (Are they founders? Do they have skin the game? Are they playing the long game?), addressable market size (How big is the opportunity?), its relative growth and creativity to expand (Are they constantly innovating to make the product better for their customers?), margin expansion (Where can we find operating leverage in the model?), its status in the industry (Are they the dominant player? Can they take market share from incumbents?), business risks (What are we missing? Are customers dissatisfied? What do employees say?) and probably a dozen more elements that are critical to our process. It’s only then do we take out the pencils do the valuation work.

In short, ABNB fulfills pretty much every element of a business model we’re attracted to: First, it’s highly scalable marketplace-based business model that unites buyer and seller with observable flywheel effects. (This is an important observation, in that the platform creates significant economic value for millions of hosts who rely on Airbnb, which in turn attracts new hosts who identify the opportunity, which creates more inventory, which turn attracts more travelers, which attracts more hosts, and soon.) Second, it has a global focus with significant opportunities to expand its operating leverage; Third, its management—which is still founder-led—stands out to us as long-term thinkers capable of handling crisis, which the team demonstrated throughout the pandemic by dropping operating costs and turning the business into a more efficient, lean organization. (Like Churchill said: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”)..”

1. Snowflake Inc. (NYSE: SNOW)

IPO Date: September 16, 2020
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 70

Snowflake Inc. tops our list of the best IPO stocks to buy now. It is a cloud platform that enables different organizations to mobilize their data with the company’s Data Cloud. Through the company’s software, the users can experience faster and easier processes of data storage, processing, and analytic solutions. Snowflake Inc. has over 4,900 customers located worldwide.

In September 2020, Snowflake Inc. raised over $3 billion in its IPO. The company went public at $120 and reached up to $300 on its first trading day, becoming the first company to double in value on its opening day. Snowflake Inc. has a market capitalization of $88.1 billion. In Q2 2021, the company generated revenue of $272.2 million, presenting a 104% year-over-year growth. In August, Cowen lifted its price target on Snowflake Inc. to $335, with an ‘Outperform’ rating on the shares. The firm appreciated the company’s strength across all the segments. Snowflake Inc. gained 24.05% since its IPO.

As of Q2 2021, 70 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey have positions in Snowflake Inc., worth $12.5 billion. Altimeter Capital Management is the company’s leading shareholder, with shares worth over $6.03 billion.

RiverPark Funds released its Q1 2021 investor letter and mentioned Snowflake Inc. in it. Here is what the firm has to say:

“We also established a position in Snowflake during the quarter. Snowflake offers cloud-based data storage and analytics, generally termed “data warehouse-as-a-service.” The data warehousing market—created by the massive, growing amount of user, customer, and account data and the need to search and analyze it—has historically stored its data on physical servers located on-premises. The cloud data platform market—storing data off-premises on cloud servers—is a relatively new $70 billion+ market. Significantly, incremental warehouse data capacity and renewals are expected to be driven by and to the cloud, with more than 75% of databases in the cloud by 2022.

Snowflake requires absolutely no infrastructure management from its users, is fully scalable for each customer, runs on Amazon, Microsoft, or Google cloud platforms, and most critically, Snowflake helps companies analyze their data. The company also has a unique, customer-aligned billing model based on usage. All of which has led to Snowflake being among the leaders of this highly fragmented market, posting 124% revenue growth last year. SNOW’s growth comes from the combination of more customers—which grew 73% last year—and customers buying more services—the company boasts an amazing 150%+ net customer retention. The company’s growing scale has also led to increasing gross margin and operating leverage, up 1,100 basis points and 8,200 basis points, respectively, over the past two years. The company has guided to FCF break-even this year, and with the company’s capital expenditure-light model—Snowflake uses the public cloud for hosting—we expect FCF to grow much faster than revenue growth, which we forecast to grow comfortably more than 50% per year for the next several years. Additionally, we have great confidence in the SNOW management team, which previously had an enormously successful run guiding one of our other core Cloud software holdings ServiceNow.”

You can also take a look at 15 Largest Global IPOs of All Time and 15 Biggest IPOs of 2020.

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