SpaceX IPO blasts off: shares gain 20% on first day
SpaceX set the record for the largest IPO in history on Friday, ending its first day on the public markets with a $2 trillion market cap.
After weeks of anticipation, SpaceX’s initial public offering (IPO) took off on 12 June, with shares in Elon Musk’s space and artificial intelligence (AI) company gaining 20% to close at $160.95 on their first day of trading.
SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) has pioneered the modern space economy. Its Starlink network consists of over 9,000 satellites that provide internet connectivity all over Earth, while its rockets facilitated more than 80% of the US’s licensed space launches in 2025.
“SpaceX shares blasted higher on their stock market debut, shooting past the $135 IPO price as investors rushed to buy into Elon Musk’s vision for space, satellite and AI domination,” said Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at wealth manager Wealth Club. “The IPO had reportedly been at least four times oversubscribed, leaving many investors without an allocation and forcing them into the secondary market once trading began.”
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This was the first IPO that allowed UK-based investors to buy shares ahead of the event.
Having raised $75 billion for SpaceX, the IPO became the largest in history. It raised more than twice as much as the previous leader, Saudi Arabian state oil company Saudi Aramco, raised in its 2019 IPO.
It means SpaceX’s founder and CEO, Elon Musk, became the world’s first trillionaire – though it will be some time before he can sell SpaceX shares and realise the increase in his nominal wealth.
How much was SpaceX worth at its IPO?
While the $1.77 trillion valuation at which SpaceX shares initially sold had raised some eyebrows, the gains over the course of its first session saw the company close with a market capitalisation of $2.11 trillion.
That puts SpaceX at number seven in the list of the world’s most valuable companies – in between semiconductor giants Taiwan Semiconductor and Broadcom.
Shares opened at $150 – already 11% above the $135 IPO price – and never fell below $149.3 on the day. SpaceX stock reached a high of $176.5 during their first session trading on public markets.
SpaceX’s IPO filing envisages a $28.5 trillion total addressable market (TAM), the vast majority of which ($26.5 trillion) is ascribed to AI. Within AI, even eye-catching segments like AI infrastructure are a relatively small portion of the total (expected to be worth $2.4 trillion); enterprise applications – in other words, AI products sold to businesses – are expected to account for $22.7 trillion, around 80% of SpaceX’s entire TAM.
Space-enabled solutions, by contrast, are expected to account for just $370 billion, or 1.3% of SpaceX’s TAM, while connectivity (Starlink Broadband and Starlink Mobile) are expected to make up another $1.6 trillion, or 5.6% of the TAM.
What could SpaceX’s IPO mean for the markets?
Many experts believe that the success of SpaceX’s IPO could pave the way for yet more mega-cap tech IPOs.
AI developers OpenAI and Anthropic have both filed for IPOs since the start of June, and other private tech giants like Databricks, Stripe and Anduril could follow. This could potentially create “a wave of new market capitalisation large enough to reprice growth equities more broadly” according to Stephen Dover, chief market strategist at investment manager Franklin Templeton.
However, there are risks posed by the prospect of so many huge private companies entering public markets at the same time.
“If several mega-cap IPOs come in the same window of time, they will compete for capital not only with each other, but also with existing publicly traded growth stocks,” said Dover. “That could create rotation pressure across software, semiconductors, fintech, defence tech and AI beneficiaries.”
Dover also cautioned that the increased scrutiny of public markets could test the valuations of these private companies, most of which have raised large amounts of money at very high valuations over the latest business cycle.
Others, however, viewed the success of SpaceX’s IPO as a positive.
“The positive SpaceX debut and investor reception is a good sign for OpenAI and Anthropic as both companies likely head down the IPO path before year-end,” said Dan Ives, head of global technology research at investment bank Wedbush Securities. “As tech stalwarts like SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic get more capital and go public this will… further drive more investments and [capital expenditure] into the AI revolution flywheel.”
How can you invest in SpaceX?
Before investing in SpaceX, it is important to consider the risks involved. The company listed at a very high valuation – around 100 times sales, rising to around 109 times sales by the close of its first day trading – and lost nearly $5 billion last year. Nvidia, by comparison, trades at around 20 times sales.
Now that SpaceX has listed publicly, most brokers that enable trading in US-listed shares should enable you to buy its stock, like that of any other listed company.
If you haven’t bought US-listed stocks through your broker or investment platform already, you may need to complete a W-8BEN form – a simple form that entitles you to a reduced tax rate in the US on your investments. Your broker will prompt you for this if and when it is needed.
There are various ways to gain exposure to SpaceX besides buying its shares directly. You could, for example, buy an investment trust that holds the stock, such as Scottish Mortgage (LON:SMT). Shares in Scottish Mortgage gained 1.7% on 12 June, the day of SpaceX’s IPO.
