US stocks: SpaceX shares close 19% higher in historic market debut, value surges past $2 trillion

The launch was smoother than many observers expected, with trading kicking off late on Friday morning, swinging for most of the session between gains of 15% and 30% above Thursday’s pricing with little in the way of volatility. Shares ended the day at about $161 a share, up 19%, making SpaceX the sixth-largest U.S. company, though the final settlement price had yet to be determined.

The trading, which surpassed 500 million shares, or about $80 billion in volume, capped off a lead-up fraught with anxiety over the exchange’s ability to handle the launch, particularly after a recent swoon in technology shares that raised concerns about the stratospheric gains ‌in AI-linked names.

With mega-listings from ⁠AI heavyweights Anthropic ⁠and OpenAI waiting in the wings, market watchers worried that a flood of new IPOs could hurt market performance following a long period with a relative dearth of offerings. But investors across the spectrum, from large institutions to retail fans of Musk, ended the day euphoric.

“SpaceX is not only a record breaker in terms of money raised at a stock market debut, but it has also left other big names for dust. When the starting valuation is already pushing $2 trillion, adding that much value at the click of a finger is impressive,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.

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Retail investors received about 20% of the allocation, far more than the typical IPO, with some even celebrating an allocation of one share.

The landmark listing cements Musk’s status as the first trillionaire ever – even though the firm posted a loss of nearly $5 billion last year and generated only a fraction of the revenue brought in by similarly valued tech giants. SpaceX executives, including President Gwynne Shotwell and Chief Financial Officer Bret ⁠Johnsen, celebrated ‌at the Nasdaq market site in New York’s Times Square after ringing the opening bell on Friday. Musk held a separate event for employees in Texas.

WORLD’S LARGEST IPO

The IPO is a culmination of Musk’s long-held ambitions in space and technology, and has stood out for rewriting Wall Street’s IPO playbook and drawing legions of retail investors into the ⁠market.

At $75 billion, the deal’s proceeds were more than double those of Saudi Aramco’s record-setting 2019 IPO.

Also Read | After record IPO, Musk’s SpaceX faces next test in market debut

The valuation could rise further should underwriters exercise their right to sell additional shares, a decision typically made within 30 days after the offering.

“Seeing the company that I joined when it was just some sketches on paper become this valuable is almost surreal,” said Tom Mueller, a founding SpaceX employee who spent 18 years at the company and is now CEO of Impulse Space, a spacecraft startup. As a shareholder, he said it was “almost surreal” to watch SpaceX’s IPO.

Although SpaceX may have to wait for entry into the S&P 500, its expected fast-track inclusion in the Nasdaq 100 will soon make it a major holding for passive funds and ETFs that track the index, creating a fresh source of demand for its shares.

“We have to go back 100 years to get comparable entrepreneurs. He’s a visionary unlike others, and he executes extremely well,” said Joel Shulman, CEO of ERShares, which manages an ETF that has an exposure to SpaceX.

It will take about a month before ‌it gets added to that index under Nasdaq’s new fast-entry rules, as opposed to a typical wait of as much as a year.

Some analysts expect SpaceX’s debut to trigger a reshuffling of investor portfolios, creating selling pressure on other technology heavyweights as funds rotate into the stock. On Friday, shares of other space firms and satellite companies declined sharply, with Planet Labs down 8% and EchoStar down 14%.

A $28.5 TRILLION MARKET ⁠OPPORTUNITY

For all the excitement surrounding the IPO, determining what SpaceX is actually worth remains a difficult valuation exercise.

SpaceX said its market opportunity spans $28.5 trillion, a figure it called the largest in human history. With its leading position in space – the firm says its operation is responsible for more than four-fifths of the mass launched into orbit over the past three years – and revenues from Starlink, some investors said it has a strong foundation upon which to build.

With revenue of $18.7 billion in 2025, the company’s market cap puts its price-to-revenue ratio at roughly 110, far above other megacap stocks. Some analysts have already issued positive ratings on the company. Morningstar analysts this month said it is more fairly valued at around $780 billion, and CFRA on Friday started coverage with a sell rating.

“This is not a name you’re buying based on fundamentals. For me, the analogy is Amazon. This was a company that changed the way we live,” said Nancy Tengler, CEO and CIO of Laffer Tengler Investments. “If the stock drops to $100, that’s not ideal, but it wouldn’t change our long-term view. We want to participate.”