On Friday, SpaceX shares opened at $150, quickly rising to $166, which represents an 11% increase from its IPO price of $135 and a 23% gain during midday trading. This surge pushed SpaceX's market capitalization to approximately $2.17 trillion, making Elon Musk the first trillionaire on record.
Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, noted the strong public demand for the stock but cautioned that it remains to be seen if the price can stabilize or if it was driven by retail enthusiasm. The initial trading indications suggested a potential rise to $200, but the stock opened lower than the anticipated $175.
The debut has also impacted other companies in the space sector, with shares of Redwire and RocketLab dropping over 13% and 12%, respectively, as investors shifted their focus to SpaceX. Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's Operations Chief, expressed uncertainty about going public but acknowledged that the timing feels right.
The IPO has attracted significant interest from both institutional and retail investors, although the allocation for retail was smaller than expected. Dan Alpert from Westwood Capital commented on the robust market sentiment, indicating that investors who received only a portion of their requested shares are now looking for stability to buy more.
This event is likely to pave the way for more high-profile IPOs in the tech and space sectors, with companies like Anthropic and OpenAI already filing prospectuses with regulators