Form S-1
The registration statement a company files to offer securities to the public for the first time.
Updated 2026-07-26
An S-1 is the document behind an initial public offering. It describes the business, the risks, the ownership before and after the offering, and the intended use of the proceeds, and it is filed before the securities may be sold.
An S-1 is almost always amended, sometimes many times, as the regulator comments and as the terms firm up. The number of shares and the price range in an early version are placeholders; the final terms appear in the last amendment and in the prospectus filed afterwards.
Filing an S-1 is not the same as going public. Registrations are withdrawn, postponed and left dormant, and a page that treats a filing as an accomplished listing will be wrong for every such case.
Related terms
4 entries- 424(b) prospectus
- The final prospectus filed after a registration becomes effective, carrying the terms the offering actually used.
- Amended filing
- A later version of a filing that corrects or supplements the original, usually marked with an /A suffix.
- Lock-up period
- A contractual window after an offering during which insiders and early investors agree not to sell their shares.
- Prospectus
- The disclosure document given to investors when securities are offered, describing the issuer, the securities and the risks.