SpaceX Valued Above $2 Trillion as Shares Jump 19% in Record Nasdaq Debut

NEW YORK — Shares of SpaceX surged on their first day of trading Friday, lifting the value of Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite company above $2 trillion after the largest initial public offering on record.

The stock, listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX, closed at $160.95, up more than 19% from its offering price of $135. That gave the company a market capitalization of roughly $2.1 trillion. Shares opened at $150 and reached a session high of $176.52.

A Record Offering

SpaceX raised about $75 billion in the IPO, which priced at a level implying a valuation of around $1.77 trillion, according to reports. More than 500 million shares changed hands during the debut session, far exceeding the volume of any other IPO this year.

The debut makes Musk, SpaceX’s founder and largest shareholder, the first person on record to be worth more than $1 trillion. The offering is also expected to create thousands of new millionaires among employees and early investors.

“This was a successful launch, no doubt about it,” said Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets. He noted, however, that the opening price was below the $175 level that had circulated in early indications to trading desks, and said a full week of trading would offer a better read on demand.

Retail Enthusiasm

SpaceX was the most-bought stock on a net basis among retail investors on Friday, according to data from VandaTrack, and had been among the most discussed tickers on Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum in the days before the listing. A source told CNBC that the company allocated a smaller-than-expected portion of the offering to individual investors.

Ripple Effects Across Markets

Shares of Goldman Sachs, the lead bookrunner on the deal, rose more than 2%. Other space-related stocks fell as investors shifted money into SpaceX: Redwire dropped more than 11%, Rocket Lab slid about 10% and the Procure Space ETF declined 7%. Tesla, Musk’s electric-vehicle maker, traded in a narrow range and is now worth less than SpaceX by market value.

The Business

Founded in 2002, SpaceX dominates the commercial launch market with its reusable Falcon 9 rockets and operates Starlink, a satellite internet service with millions of subscribers worldwide. The company is also developing Starship, a fully reusable heavy-lift rocket intended for missions to the moon and Mars, and holds major contracts with NASA and the Defense Department.

The listing ranks SpaceX among the most valuable publicly traded companies in the United States. Analysts say its performance in the coming weeks will be closely watched as a barometer for other large private technology companies weighing public offerings.