When a company goes public through an IPO (Initial Public Offering), its shares become available to trade on the stock market for the first time. Here's how it works when you invest through ARQ.

You'll be able to place orders for an IPO stock on its first trading day, but not right at market open (9:30 AM ET).

When a stock lists for the first time, trading doesn't begin the moment the market opens. The exchange first needs to gather all the buy and sell orders and match them to set a fair opening price — a process that builds the stock's initial order book. Only once this is complete does regular trading start.

For this reason, IPO shares usually become available to trade later in the day, often in the afternoon (ET). The exact time varies from one IPO to another: highly anticipated companies with very high order volume tend to take longer to open, while others may be ready sooner.

In some cases fractional shares may take a little longer to become available and could open on the following day. This depends on order volume and how quickly the market settles after listing.