At-the-Market (ATM) Offering

An at-the-market, or ATM, offering allows a public company to sell registered shares into the existing trading market from time to time, usually through a broker-dealer acting as the company’s sales agent. The shares are sold at market prices available when each sale occurs rather than at one fixed offering price for the entire program. An ATM can give a company flexible access to capital because it may sell more shares when conditions are favorable and pause sales when they are not. As shares are sold under the program, existing shareholders may be diluted.