Wealthfront Climbs the IPO Diving Board After Chime and Klarna Revive the Fintech Pool Party

Just me, or does Wealthfront sound like a sketchy newsletter promising to 10x your money by next Thursday?

The kind of company that tells retirees about “Congressional Checks” they can claim in the mail… when it’s really just dividend investing dressed up in tinfoil?

Anyway, robo-advisor OG Wealthfront just filed for its IPO under the ticker “WLTH” (subtle, guys). That makes them the latest fintech to step up to the 2025 “we’re finally profitable, please buy our stock” gauntlet, right behind Chime and Klarna.

The numbers aren’t small. Wealthfront manages $88.2 billion in assets for 1.3 million customers, raked in $308.9 million in revenue last fiscal year, and posted $194.4 million in net income. Translation: they’re actually making money, which already puts them ahead of most fintech IPO hopefuls.

But hold your applause… profits have been trending down. In the first half of this year, net income dropped to $60.7 million from $132.3 million the year before. So yes, WLTH is profitable, but it’s also leaking oil on the highway.

(Source: Bloomberg)

Wealthfront’s been around since 2008, carving out the robo-advisor lane before the big banks decided “oh yeah, we can code too” and rolled out their own knockoffs. UBS even tried to buy them in 2022 for $1.4 billion, but that deal blew up when fintech stocks tanked… because Silicon Valley thought parking billions in long-dated bonds was the same thing as a savings account.

Now, investors like Tiger Global and Index Ventures are lining up for their payday, and Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are underwriting the thing… so the expectations are sky high.

I will say, Wealthfront’s IPO pitch is enticing. They’re targeting digital natives with cash to burn and nerves of steel. You know, the types of millennials and Gen Z who’d happily let an algorithm rebalance their portfolio rather than get locked in an Edward Jones office listening to a financial advisor drone on about mutual funds.

The more I think about it, Wealthfront couldn’t have timed this better if they hired Christopher Nolan to direct the script. Fintechs just crawled out of a two-year Fed-induced grave, and suddenly the IPO crowd is clapping like trained seals again. Chime ripped 37% on its June debut, Klarna jumped 30% earlier this month… you get the idea. Unless a government shutdown throws a wrench in the market (and I doubt it will), Wealthfront looks like it’s got this one in the bag.

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News doesn’t hold positions in companies mentioned in the article.