Retail investors pile into Arm stock on the first day of trading, seeking greater exposure to the AI boom

• Arm became the biggest IPO in the US since 2021 when it made its market debut on Thursday.
• Its stock rose 25% – with retail investors keen to jump on the bandwagon of AI-related stocks.

Arm's successful first day of trading has caught the eye of retail equity investors.

Shares in the UK-based chip designer rose 25% after debuting with the largest IPO since 2021, as individual investors piled into the stock hoping to capture a slice of the gains.

Over 20,000 purchase orders of the stock were made Thursday by retail traders on Fidelity's trading platform, easily outpacing those for other popular names such as Tesla and Nvidia, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Arm opened at $56 yesterday and closed at just over $63, compared with its original $51 offer price. The float raised almost $5 billion for SoftBank and has sparked hopes that the IPO market could revive after a two-year slump.

Although the British firm is not familiar to consumers, its technology is used in more than 90% of smartphones.

The company said in its prospectus that about 70% of the world's population uses products based on its designs.

The flurry of trades among retail investors indicates a growing appetite for tech stocks among individuals who seek to jump on the AI-fuelled bandwagon that has supercharged stock markets this year. The S&P 500 is up over 17% year-to-date thanks to a handful of mega-cap tech stocks boosting the index upward.

Questions remain on the extent to which Arm's splashy launch can turn the tides of the broader IPO market, with some strategists pointing out that its blockbuster debut isn't an accurate gauge for the typical company looking to go public.