GitLab isn’t a name flying under the radar among industry pros, but it certainly hasn’t gotten the fanfare that the Bumbles and Robinhoods of the world have received. However, the company attracted attention with impressive valuation and a strong IPO. GitLab, a metadata repository, allows programmers and coders to track changes in data files and sets across the internet using the computer program Git. Keeping an open-source repository offers an easy way to track changes in these files.
Let’s look at the company's history and weigh a few pros and cons.
- When Did GitLab IPO?
- GitLab History
- GitLab Stock Potential
- See All 6 Items
When Did GitLab IPO?
GitLab IPOed on October 14, 2021 under the stock ticker NASDAQ: GTLB.
GitLab History
GitLab bills itself as “the complete DevOps platform.” DevOps, a portmanteau of software development and IT operations, helps coders and programmers improve the speed and efficiency of their products. By combining development and IT, GitLab offers a one-stop shop for businesses to streamline computer projects.
Launched in 2014, GitLab was originally a software application designed by Ukrainian entrepreneurs Sid Sijbrandij and Dmitriy Zaporozhets. Built on the Git system, which helps groups of programmers track alterations of source code, GitLab grew rapidly with its ability to streamline the programming process. By 2015, the platform had over 800,000 users, including major business clients like IBM and Alibaba.
Several successful funding rounds followed and GitLab began exploring options for an IPO, leading to its debut in October of 2021. The company let employees sell shares in December in a secondary sale, which put the company at an estimated $6 billion valuation.
GitLab Stock Potential
From a small Ukrainian startup to a major player in the software industry, GitLab now has nearly 1,300 employees and recorded $150 million in revenue in 2020. Fast-growing tech firms have attracted attention, especially Palantir and Bumble.
While GitLab doesn’t have the name recognition (and gets confused with Microsoft-owned GitHub), software development isn’t a niche industry and the company has the potential to accelerate client growth rapidly over the next decade. Platforms like GitLab have become crucial for programmers to bring new projects forward with speed, precision and security.
What are the potential downsides? GitLab already has a number of competitors — GitHub, Bitbucket, Jenkins and CircleCI, just to name a few. While GitLab was one of the first DevOps repositories to IPO, public companies often can’t be as limber as their private counterparts. GitLab will need to fend off stiff competition in this space.
How to Buy GitLab Stock
Even though GitLab shares aren’t available right now, it’s good to be prepared. Here are the steps to follow for acquiring GitLab stock.
- Pick a brokerage.
Picking a brokerage is always a crucial step for an investor. You’ll need to find not only a broker that fits your needs and style, but one with access to new issues. Make sure you can get GitLab shares from your brokers before creating an account.
- Decide how many shares you want.
You’ll likely need to make a minimum investment in order to procure the shares before the company trades on the open market, so determine how much capital you can put toward a new brand stock. If you have more capital than the minimum requirements, use your normal trading rules and portion part of your account toward GitLab shares.
- Choose your order type.
If you’re buying shares before trading begins, you won’t get to choose your order type. If you wait until the shares trade on an exchange, you’ll want to use a limit order to guarantee a price point that works for you. Blindly buying volatile shares with market orders is a good way to fall behind your profit goals.
- Execute your trade.
Once your trading parameters have been established, you can execute your trade.
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GitLab Shares Hold Promise
Should you purchase GitLab shares? This company has massive potential and thousands of happy clients. Given the digital nature of the global economy, it stands to reason that GitLab will be a popular resource for many years—and possibly decades—to come.
About Dan Schmidt
Dan Schmidt is a finance writer passionate about helping readers understand how assets and markets work. He has over six years of writing experience, focused on stocks. His work has been published by Vanguard, Capital One, PenFed Credit Union, MarketBeat, and Fora Financial. Dan lives in Bucks County, PA with his wife and enjoys summers at Citizens Bank Park cheering on the Phillies.