Individual investors anxiously checked their email and trading accounts on Friday to discover how many SpaceX shares they secured in the company’s highly anticipated stock market debut, while others headed directly to the trading floor to purchase shares on opening day.
SpaceX and its financial partners decided early on to reserve up to 30% of publicly sold shares for everyday investors during the initial public offering. This decision made generating enthusiasm and purchase orders from individual buyers essential to the offering’s success. Competition for share allocations was fierce, prompting some retail investors to simply purchase shares directly from the market.
Joseph Gutheinz, a former NASA investigator who transitioned to legal practice, expressed satisfaction with his purchase. “I’m very happy with what I managed to get,” Gutheinz stated. Rather than requesting an IPO allocation, he successfully purchased $100,000 worth of shares at $161 per share on Friday.
“It’s a great investment,” he commented. “Win or lose, I’m happy to be invested at all.”
According to Art Hogan, an investment strategist at B. Riley Wealth in Boston, purchases by individual investors contributed to the stock price surge, with SpaceX shares jumping 19% during their inaugural trading session.
“This allocation to retail is far and away the highest I’ve ever seen in my decades on Wall Street,” Hogan observed. “It’s the latest, greatest shiny object for retail investors to get into right now.”
A spokesperson for SoFi, one of the retail brokerages participating in the share distribution, described the offering as “the largest and most subscribed offering on our platform to date.” The representative noted that every individual meeting SoFi’s requirements received a portion of the deal.
SpaceX share purchases represented approximately 4% of all individual stock trading on Friday, totaling $453 million and occurring at 3.5 times the rate of second-place Nvidia.
Vanda Research, which monitors self-directed individual investor activity and tracked the high-profile IPO throughout Friday, reported that “Retail investors have shown up for SpaceX in a big way.” Within the first 20 minutes of trading, SpaceX shares climbed to second place among stocks most actively bought by retail investors, and by mid-afternoon had claimed the top spot, significantly outpacing competitors.
However, share allocations disappointed some individual investors who received less than they requested.
On a Reddit forum dedicated to discussing allocation results, frustrated investors shared their experiences: “Requested 250, received nothing,” wrote one disappointed potential investor. Others posted “Requested 555, got 10” and “requested 1,000, got 85.”
SpaceX founder, whom the IPO transformed into the world’s first trillionaire, made a commitment in 2024 regarding future public offerings of his private companies. He promised to prioritize retail investors, particularly shareholders of his other public company, Tesla, when accessing new deals.
“Loyalty deserves loyalty,” he wrote in a post on X at that time.
Some supporters and SpaceX enthusiasts are already demonstrating their continued dedication and confidence in the company.
Clint Sorenson, chief investment officer of Ascentis Asset Management, told reporters he presented all clients who had previously invested in SpaceX through private investment options before the IPO with the chance to hedge their stock exposure now that public trading is available. None accepted the offer, he reported.
“Everyone wants to keep holding and celebrating right now; no one wants to even think of hedging their risk because they believe in the story so much,” Sorenson explained.
