Roblox direct listing: how to buy Roblox shares

1. How to buy Roblox shares: investing and trading
2. How to sell your Roblox shares
3. How to short sell Roblox shares
4. What’s the difference between a direct listing and an IPO?

How to buy Roblox shares: investing and trading

We'll offer Roblox shares on the day the company lists, though as with all US stocks it may take a few hours for the shares to be available to trade in the UK - which is the case for all brokers. Roblox is expected to list on the New York Stock Exchange in March 2021.

Buying Roblox shares can be broken down into investing and trading – here’s how to do both with us.

With investing, you’ll be buying Roblox shares outright – making you a Roblox shareholder, eligible to receive dividends and voting rights if the company grants them.

But, bear in mind that you’ll need to commit the full value of the position upfront – which also caps your maximum risk at this initial outlay. As with all investments, you could get back less than you initially invested.

Trading on the other hand, means that you’re opening a speculative ‘buy’ position without having to take direct ownership of Roblox shares. This is made possible with derivatives like spread bets or CFDs – and we offer both.

You won’t get dividends or voting rights when you trade Roblox shares, but you will be able to open your position with leverage – granting you full market exposure for an initial deposit, which might help to reduce the size of your initial outlay. But, while leverage can increase your profits, it can also increase your losses – so it’s important to take steps to manage your risk.

Learn more about risk management

How to sell your Roblox shares

Selling a Roblox share investment means that you’ll be reducing your investment position. This could be to take some profit, or it could be to close your position entirely – perhaps to cut a loss if the Roblox share price had decreased to your personal maximum loss threshold.

There’s info on how to sell your Roblox shares in the boxes below

How to short sell Roblox shares

Short-selling is generally used in the context of trading – like with spread bets or CFDs. That’s because these derivatives let you take a position without having to directly own Roblox shares, so you can go short without having to become a Roblox shareholder.

Just like buying with derivatives, you’ll be shorting Roblox shares with leverage when you open a position with spread bets or CFDs. Remember that while this can increase your potential profits, it can also magnify your losses. To profit when going short, you’ll need the Roblox share price to fall below the price that you opened the position at – if it rises above this price and you close your position, you’ll incur a loss.

What’s the difference between a direct listing and an IPO?

The main difference between a direct listing and an IPO is that in a direct listing, a company won’t have an underwriter for its stock issue. Instead, its employees and existing investors will convert their ownership stakes into shares that are listed on a stock exchange – which can be purchased by institutional and retail investors.

As a result, direct listings don’t have the same ‘safety net’ that IPOs do, because there’s no underwriter to set a target share price range. Instead, in a direct listing, share prices are completely at the mercy of market demand, which can cause increased volatility compared to going public through an IPO.

Find out more about how IPOs work, or learn how to take a position on IPOs with us.