NerdWallet soars 91% in IPO debut, valuing the personal finance website at $2 billion

• NerdWallet stock soared as much as 91% in its IPO debut on Thursday, valuing the personal finance website at $2 billion.
• The company priced its IPO at $18 per share, in the middle of its expected $17-$19 range.
• NerdWallet raised $130 million from the offering at a $1.2 billion valuation.

NerdWallet, the personal finance website founded in 2009, soared as much as 91% in its IPO trading debut on Thursday.

The company priced its IPO at $18 per share, in the middle of its expected $17-$19 per share range, giving it a $1.2 billion valuation. But with Thursday's surge, the company saw its valuation hit more than $2 billion.

The company trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "NRDS."

NerdWallet raised $130.5 million from the share offering, having sold 7.25 million shares. The company recorded $182 million in revenue in the first six months of 2021, representing year-over-year growth of 32%. And rare for most IPO companies, NerdWallet has been profitable in the past, generating $5 million in net income in 2020.

But rising marketing costs caused NerdWallet to swing to a loss of $27 million in the first six months of 2021 from income of $3 million in the same time period last year.

"We've come a long way, but I believe we're still in the early innings. We aim to become the most trusted name in personal finance," co-founder and CEO Tim Chen wrote in a letter included in its S-1 filing. The company has 21 million monthly unique users.