SpaceX shares under pressure after post-IPO rally

US company’s shares have jumped nearly 40% from the June 12 IPO price of $135

June 22, 20262 min read

Bengaluru — SpaceX’s record-breaking initial public offering (IPO) fuelled a trading frenzy in its first week as a public company, with its shares surging as retail investors and options traders rushed to bet on the Elon Musk-steered rockets-to-AI firm.

Its shares have jumped nearly 40% from the June 12 IPO price of $135, pushing its market value above $2-trillion as it briefly joined the ranks of the world’s top five most valuable companies.

Here’s a look at how SpaceX has fared since its IPO:

Nasdaq debut

SpaceX’s shares jumped 19% in their Nasdaq debut on June 12, when it raised more than $75bn in a record offering. The share growth vaulted its valuation past the $2-trillion mark to make it the sixth-biggest US company by market capitalisation at one point, despite being unprofitable.

The turnover in the rocket company’s shares, or the approximate dollar value of the day’s trades, was consistently highest among large US-listed firms for the first few days.

At one point, it was more than 3.5 times that of Nvidia, which typically leads in terms of turnover.

Retail investors

SpaceX allocated a record 20% of its IPO shares for retail investors. Traders lapped up millions of dollars’ worth of shares and made it one of the most heavily bought stocks last week, according to Vanda Research data. On the day of the debut alone, net buying stood at $117.6m ― the largest retail net buying for any debut ever.

Trading in SpaceX options began on June 16 and it received high interest from investors, with trading volume surging to a record high and bullish activity dominating, underscoring strong demand as investors seek avenues for exposure to Musk’s new ambitions.

SpaceX saw explosive gains in its first three trading sessions, briefly pushing its valuation past Microsoft’s to make it the fourth most valuable company in the world.

However, the stock ran into turbulence in the latter half of the week — a reaction that looked similar to that of Tesla at the time of its 2010 debut.