SpaceX’s entry onto the public markets has been nothing short of explosive, with its stock surging nearly 40% above its initial offering price of $135 per share since its June 12 IPO — pushing the company’s total market value past $2 trillion and briefly placing it among the five most valuable companies on the planet.
On its first day of trading on the Nasdaq, shares jumped 19%, helping the company raise more than $75 billion in what became a record-breaking initial public offering. Despite the company currently operating at a loss, the surge briefly made it the sixth-largest U.S. company by market capitalization.
Trading activity in SpaceX shares dominated Wall Street in the days that followed. The dollar volume of daily trades in the stock consistently ranked highest among major U.S.-listed companies during the first few days — at one point reaching more than 3.5 times the trading volume of Nvidia, which typically leads that category.
Everyday investors played a major role in the excitement. SpaceX set a record by allocating 20% of its IPO shares specifically for retail investors. According to data from Vanda Research, those traders made SpaceX one of the most heavily purchased stocks of the week. On debut day alone, net buying from retail investors hit $117.6 million — the highest figure ever recorded for a stock’s first day of trading.
Options trading on SpaceX kicked off on June 16 and immediately drew enormous interest. Volume hit record levels right out of the gate, with bullish activity leading the way, reflecting strong investor appetite for exposure to Elon Musk’s expanding ambitions in rocketry and artificial intelligence.
In its first three trading sessions, SpaceX’s valuation briefly surpassed Microsoft’s, making it the fourth most valuable company in the world. However, the stock hit some turbulence in the back half of the week — a pattern that analysts noted resembled the early trading behavior of Tesla following its own market debut back in 2010.
