Clear Street (CLRS) IPO: Launch Date, Expected Pricing, Valuation

Clear Street Group is expected to price its initial public offering (IPO) on February 12, 2026 (US time), and to begin trading on February 13, 2026. These dates are calendar estimates and can change.

The Clear Street (CLRS) IPO is launching at a time when investor focus has shifted back to the underlying infrastructure of financial markets rather than solely to consumer-facing applications. Following several years of private funding and rapid expansion, Clear Street is set to list on Nasdaq with a substantial offering size and a valuation likely to attract both interest and critical analysis. A successful IPO execution may signal renewed investor appetite for financial infrastructure companies in 2026.

Clear Street’s offering is notable for its scale. The company is offering 23,809,524 shares at an expected price range of $40 to $44, resulting in estimated gross proceeds of approximately $1.0 billion at the midpoint. This large offering size is significant as it will test genuine institutional demand rather than superficial interest. 

Clear Street (CLRS) IPO Launch Date and Key Deal Terms

It is important to interpret the 'launch date' as a target rather than a guarantee, because IPO calendars can change in response to market conditions and investor demand. This article uses the company’s active SEC filing as the primary reference point for deal terms, and IPO calendars for the expected timing.

Expected Pricing: What $40 to $44 Really Means

IPO pricing is determined through negotiation. The stated price range represents an initial position rather than a final outcome. Strong demand may result in pricing at the upper end of the range, while weaker demand typically leads to pricing near the lower end or to reduced deal size.

Using the prospectus share counts immediately after the offering, the implied market value looks like this:

These figures are calculated using the total common shares outstanding after the offering, including both share classes, rather than only the freely traded portion. Initially, the public float will be smaller, which may increase price volatility in the early trading period. 

Some IPO research services also quote a “fully diluted” value that includes additional equity awards or other securities, so their headline valuation can be higher than the figures above.

A simple valuation check using revenue

Clear Street reports “net revenues,” which is a common way brokerages describe their top line after certain trading-related costs. Using that measure:

• 2024 net revenues: $463.6 million

• Nine months ended September 30, 2025, net revenues: $783.7 million (about $1.04 billion annualized)

At the midpoint implied market value above, the company trades at roughly 24x 2024 net revenues, or about 11x annualized 2025 net revenues. That spread tells the story: the IPO is asking investors to price the company on where it is going, not where it was. Multiples can change quickly if pricing, share count assumptions, or revenues shift.

Valuation: Why Investors May Pay Up Anyway

Clear Street positions itself as a provider of market infrastructure, centered on a unified live ledger that integrates clearing, financing, and risk management functions within a single platform, rather than relying on disparate systems.

In plain language, Clear Street makes money from two main engines:

1. Financing revenue: income linked to client balances, margin lending, stock borrowing, and similar activity.

2. Transaction revenue: income linked to trading and execution activity.

By 2024, financing revenue was already larger than transaction revenue, and by 2025, it accelerated again. That matters because financing-linked income can scale fast when client balances rise, even if headline trading volumes are choppy. 

Clear Street asserts that it is gaining market share in an industry traditionally dominated by large incumbents. According to the filing, as of September 30, 2025, activity on its platform accounted for approximately 3.8% of total clearing market volume, based on year-to-date trading volumes. This indicates a substantial market presence.

Business Overview: What Clear Street Actually Does

Clear Street is a multi-asset brokerage and clearing platform serving institutions and intermediaries. It supports trading, clearing, and custody-related processes, as well as financing services such as securities borrowing and lending, margin, and other prime-broker-style functions. The company also describes expanding into areas like security-based swaps and additional geographies. 

A few operating indicators in the filing help explain why the company thinks it can keep scaling:

• Institution clients grew from 287 on December 31, 2023, to 674 on September 30, 2025.

• Institution interest-bearing client balances grew from about $2.3 billion to about $15.5 billion over the same period.

Client retention for institutions and intermediaries: 99.4% of clients at the start of 2024 were still there at the end of 2024, with retained-client revenue “virtually 100%” of prior-year levels. 

Geographically, the fintech company says its infrastructure is live in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, with licensing efforts ongoing in the European Union and Asia, including a license application pending in the Netherlands.

Financial Performance: Growth Is Real, But So Are Accounting Noise and Cycles

Here are the headline numbers from the filing (rounded to $ millions):

Two things stand out from this table.

First, the company’s growth rate is significant. Net revenues more than doubled from 2023 to 2024 and continued to increase substantially during the first nine months of 2025. Financing revenue, in particular, expanded rapidly as client balances increased.

Second, profits are expected to fluctuate in response to market conditions and internal accounting factors. The filing notes fair-value changes related to specific instruments and highlights a significant post-IPO expense: Clear Street anticipates recognizing approximately $173.1 million in share-based compensation expense as IPO-related vesting conditions are met. This may temporarily reduce reported earnings around the time of the listing, even if the underlying business remains strong.

Balance Sheet and Capital: Big Numbers, Different Meanings

Brokerage balance sheets differ from typical corporate balance sheets. They often show large asset totals because they hold customer-related receivables, collateral, and matched financing positions.

As of December 31, 2024, Clear Street reported total assets of about $55.6 billion. A large portion relates to collateralized agreements, such as repurchase agreements and securities borrowing and lending. 

Regulatory capital is the more practical safety lens. For its main broker-dealer subsidiary (CS LLC), the filing shows:

• Net capital: $551.6 million

• Excess net capital: $464.7 million (as of September 30, 2025) 

The company also discloses several credit facilities and covenant requirements. Access to funding is a critical competitive advantage in the prime brokerage and clearing sector.

Ownership and Governance: Public Shareholders Will Not Be in Charge

Clear Street will have a dual-class structure. Class B shares carry 10 votes per share and are held by Global Corp., which is expected to retain about 88.28% of voting power after the offering. That structure can support long-term strategy, but it also means outside shareholders have limited say on board composition and major decisions. 

The filing explicitly states the company will qualify as a “controlled company” under Nasdaq rules and can rely on certain governance exemptions. 

Risks That Matter Most for the CLRS IPO

1) Market and client risk. Clear Street’s revenue is tied to client activity, financing spreads, and risk controls around margin and collateral. Fast growth often means growing exposures, even with strong safeguards. 

2) Earnings optics. The expected $173.1 million share-based compensation charge can weigh on near-term reported earnings after the IPO. 

3) Governance concentration. Public investors will own a meaningful economic stake, but a much smaller slice of voting power. That can compress valuation multiples for some investors who prefer one-share-one-vote structures. 

4) Controls and reporting maturity. The company discloses previously identified material weaknesses in internal controls over financial reporting and says remediation is underway. Investors typically watch this closely in newly public financial firms. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1) When is the Clear Street (CLRS) IPO date?

Clear Street is expected to price its IPO on February 12, 2026 (US time) and begin trading on February 13, 2026. Treat these dates as calendar estimates, and confirm timing in the latest SEC filing and updated IPO calendars.

2) What is the expected IPO price for CLRS?

The preliminary prospectus shows an expected range of $40 to $44 per share. The final IPO price is set and can land anywhere in the range, and in some cases above or below it.

3) How much money is Clear Street trying to raise?

At the midpoint price of $42, gross proceeds are about $1.0 billion, with estimated net proceeds of about $922.4 million after underwriting discounts and offering costs. With the overallotment option (also called a greenshoe) and top-of-range pricing, gross proceeds can reach about $1.05 billion.

4) What valuation does the CLRS IPO imply?

Based on post-offering share counts disclosed in the filing, the implied market value is about $10.7 billion at $40 per share and about $11.8 billion at $44 per share, with a midpoint of roughly $11.3 billion.

5) Will Clear Street pay dividends after the IPO?

The company does not anticipate paying cash dividends on its common stock in the foreseeable future. The filing notes that Series A preferred stockholders are entitled to quarterly dividends at a cumulative rate of 7.0% per year up to a reset date.

6) Who will control Clear Street after the IPO?

A holder, Global Corp., is expected to retain about 88.28% of voting power after the offering through its ownership of Class B shares, leaving public shareholders with limited voting influence.

Conclusion

The Clear Street (CLRS) IPO represents a substantial billion-dollar offering, centered on the proposition that core market infrastructure can be modernized and scaled profitably using advanced technology. The filing demonstrates significant momentum in institutional client growth, notable expansion in financing revenue, and improving profitability during 2024 and 2025.

The potential benefits depend on Clear Street’s ability to convert increasing client balances into sustainable earnings while managing risk as the platform expands. This article is for general information only and is not investment advice.

Disclaimer: This material is for general information purposes only and is not intended as (and should not be considered to be) financial, investment or other advice on which reliance should be placed. No opinion given in the material constitutes a recommendation by EBC or the author that any particular investment, security, transaction or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person.

Sources

1. SEC preliminary prospectus (Form S-1/A), Clear Street Group Inc., dated February 4, 2026

2. Clear Street press release on Series B expansion and $2.0 billion valuation (April 2023)

3. US IPO market context: EY Global IPO Trends 2025 report and Renaissance Capital 2026 market updates