SpaceX stock surges in record IPO, values company at $2.1 trillion

SpaceX turned its Nasdaq debut into the biggest initial public offering in history, then left investors with a sharper question than the opening pop: can the market digest this much new equity without cracking the appetite for other mega-brand listings? The stock opened at $150, reached an intraday high of $176.52 and closed around $161, up 19% from the $135 IPO price, giving the company a market value of about $2.1 trillion.

The scale of the trade was as striking as the price move. More than 500 million shares changed hands on day one, close to the first-day volume seen in Facebook’s 2012 debut. SpaceX sold 555.6 million shares in the offering, and underwriters have the option to sell another 83.33 million shares if demand holds. SpaceX began trading on June 12 under the ticker SPCX after accelerating its timetable from a previously expected late-June launch.

That first-day strength does not erase the valuation debate. One analyst cited by Seeking Alpha pegged SpaceX closer to $1.3 trillion, well below the IPO mark, underscoring how much of the deal rested on investor faith in Elon Musk’s company and its long runway rather than near-term financial arithmetic. That gap matters because the stock is now priced not just as a rocket maker, but as one of the six most valuable U.S. companies, a level that leaves little room for disappointment.

For the broader market, the debut was a stress test. CNBC framed the offering as a test of whether Wall Street could absorb a flood of new shares, and the answer on Friday was yes, at least for now. But the real issue comes next: whether SpaceX can keep that valuation once the first-day enthusiasm fades, and whether other private giants waiting to list, especially in artificial intelligence and space, see this as proof that public markets will still pay up for scale, branding and scarcity.

SpaceX has now set the benchmark for what a massive private-company listing can command. The harder task will be holding that benchmark once trading becomes less ceremonial and more about fundamentals.