Wealthfront plans an IPO. A US shutdown may get in the way.

• Key Insight: Wealthfront's IPO filing, published Monday, could be impacted by the U.S. government shutdown.
• Expert Quote: Kyle Standford, Pitchbook: "Wealthfront is looking to capitalize on the strong IPO market for fintechs this year."
• Supporting Data: Wealthfront reports 44% YoY revenue growth from July 2024 to July 2025.

The robo-adviser fintech Wealthfront has publicized its financials in preparation for an IPO.
Wealthfront released the S-1 registration filing it submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. The fintech previously filed confidentially back in June, but waited until this week to make that filing public. The release indicates that Wealthfront is looking to kick off its roadshow to pitch shares to investors, since an IPO typically debuts within weeks of a company's S-1 filing being made public. 

However, the U.S. government shutdown may impact the company's IPO timeline, as the SEC will be impacted by Congress not meeting the deadline of midnight on Tuesday to approve a new budget for federal funding. Companies often get their final set of SEC comments and effectiveness notes while on their IPO roadshows.

"Despite being well telegraphed over the last week, the U.S. government shutdown is a nightmare for the IPO market for two reasons," Samuel Kerr, head of equity capital markets for Mergermarket, told American Banker. "First a shutdown gives investors a reason to think twice on whether to buy into new deals at a time of heightened political uncertainty. In addition to this, no IPO documents are likely to be approved by the SEC during the shutdown, with the agency only running a limited team focusing on critical matters such as fraud and misconduct. The shutdown has the immediate impact of damaging investor sentiment now and the longer-term effect of clogging the IPO pipe. This shutdown could hardly have come at a worse time for the IPO market."

The SEC previously published a series of guidelines for registration statements in the event of a shutdown back in March 2025, when the U.S. government faced a similar shutdown threat that did not materialize at the time. The SEC stated at the time that "regardless of our operating status, EDGAR will accept registration statements, offering statements and other filings; however, as discussed below, during a shutdown we will not be able to declare registration statements effective."

In August 2025 the SEC published an operations plan in the event of a fall 2025 shutdown. The operations plan stated that "the Division of Corporation Finance... will be unable to process filings, provide interpretive advice, issue no-action letters or conduct any other normal Division and Office activities. As a result, new or pending registration statements or applications for exemptive relief will not be processed regardless of the status of any review of those filings."

Since Wealthfront originally filed its IPO registration back in June, its S-1 statement has already been submitted to the SEC's Division of Corporate Finance for about two months. Wealthfront declined to comment on how a government shutdown would affect its IPO plans.

Wealthfront joins several other fintechs and payment providers going public over the past several months. The neobank Chime and stablecoin issuer Circle started the wave when they went public in June of this year, shortly before Wealthfront's initial confidential filing. BNPL provider Klarna and crypto exchange Gemini also went public in recent weeks after announcing IPOS earlier in the summer.

Kerr told American Banker that since a few recent fintech IPOs have underperformed after opening this year, investors are more likely to scrutinize Wealthfront's business fundamentals as it prepares to go public.

"The U.S. IPO market is still pushing on with new filings, and Wealthfront [is] a prominent example of this," Kerr said. "However, some of the wind has been taken out of the sails of the market more broadly by disappointing trading for Klarna, StubHub and Gemini Space Station, all now below IPO issue prices. While the market is certainly still open, companies are likely to come under slightly more scrutiny from the buyside given this recent disappointing trading. But businesses that present a compelling equity story and solid financials will still have every chance of a successful IPO and healthy aftermarket once listed."

Wealthfront has $88.2 billion in assets on its platform and serves 1.3 million customers as of July 31, according to the S-1 filing. The robo-adviser saw significant revenue growth from $53.8 million in July 2023 to $77.5 million in July 2024, reflecting a 44% year over year increase. However, revenue growth slowed between July 2024 and July 2025 with a 17.5% year over year increase in revenue to $91.1 million. 

Wealthfront's main sources of revenue are its cash management and investment advisory offerings. The filing stated that "for fiscal 2024, fiscal 2025, and the six months ended July 31, 2025, revenue from our cash management product constituted approximately 71%, 75%, and 76% of our total revenue." Revenue from investment advisory products constituted approximately 26%, 24%, and 24% of total revenue for the same respective periods.

The fintech has also reached profitability, with a 1.65% growth in net income year over year from $34.2 million in July 2024 to $34.7 million in July 2025. The company saw a big jump in net income between 2023 and 2024 due primarily to a large one-time deferred-tax benefit in 2024, which was then largely reversed by a $13.3 million provision for income taxes in 2025.

The fintech reports in fiscal years ending January 31 and six-months ending July 31. The company intends to list on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol WLTH, according to the filing.

"Wealthfront is looking to capitalize on the strong IPO market for fintechs this year, and also showcases the steering of VC-backed companies to stronger fundamentals while private," said Kyle Stanford, director of research at U.S. Venture for PitchBook. "Many of the startups that have listed this year have had strong growth figures and were either profitable or nearing profitability, which [is] a shift from historical norms for VC. The lack of a market over the past three years was likely a benefit for many of these companies, allowing time to develop stronger financials and situate their businesses for a reopening of the market."

Wealthfront, founded in 2008 out of the financial crisis, has built digital wealth management products specifically for younger "digital-native" investors for the past 17 years, according to its filing. The fintech started as a robo-adviser but is becoming more like a neobank through its wealth management offerings such as an "Autopilot" tool for saving and investing, which it now refers to as an "automated savings plan." Wealthfront is also expanding into the mortgage business and originated its first mortgage loan in August 2025, according to the filing.

UBS initially made a deal to acquire Wealthfront for $1.4 billion in cash in January 2022, but the deal was terminated in September of that year. The Swiss bank instead purchased a $69.7 million financing note that is convertible into Wealthfront shares.

Matthew Kennedy, a senior IPO market strategist with IPO investment firm Renaissance Capital, told American Banker that he estimates Wealthfront will raise up to $300 million based on "approximate market value and a typical float percentage for the type of deal."

"Wealthfront is now going public with the wind at its back, having more than doubled platform assets over the past three years," Kennedy said. "My first impression is that there's a lot to like here, with overall a good picture of health and standing. They are winning Millennial and Gen Z investors, which can be quite lucrative if they stick with the Wealthfront platform over the course of their careers, so the trends are mostly moving in the right direction."