Dating back to March 2021, Robinhood Markets Inc. (HOOD) 24.2% said it intended to offer early access of its public shares to customers of the trading platform as part of the IPO process. Here's a look at how many customers took advantage of the early access.

What Happened

Robinhood priced its IPO at $38 and closed its first day as a public trading company at $34.82. Shares of the company were offered to Robinhood customers as part of its IPO Access program.

To date, Robinhood has offered early access to seven companies before they hit the public market, including Clear Secure (YOU) and Duolingo Inc (DUOL).

Robinhood reports that 301,500 customers purchased HOOD shares prior to the IPO. This represents around 1% of the company’s 31 million total users.

Why It’s Important

Robinhood is one of several retail brokers to begin offering early access to upcoming IPOs. The buying and selling of the IPOs comes with different restrictions.

Robinhood customers were instructed when buying HOOD shares that they could not sell for 30 days without facing account restrictions.

People who sold the Robinhood shares purchased on the platform early cannot buy into another IPO for at least 60 days.

The 1% of users who purchased comes in lower than the results predicted by a study from Cardify. The survey reported that 37.7% of Robinhood users planned to buy shares of the company at the IPO, with 30.4% answering no and 31.9% unsure of their intentions.

Could the restrictions put in place by Robinhood and other trading platforms be keeping users from buying into IPOs early? The answer could be yes.

Investors who bought Robinhood shares as part of the IPO and are holding 30 days could be rewarded, as shares closed down below their IPO price the first day and are now trading above the IPO price.

HOOD Price Action

Robinhood shares were trading 23.14% higher to $46.40 at last check Tuesday.