- SpaceX (SPCX) rose 11% in premarket trading Tuesday, extending a 40%+ gain from its first two sessions as a public company and putting it on pace for more than a 50% jump in just three trading days.
- The market cap now exceeds $2.5 trillion as of Monday’s close — within striking distance of Amazon’s ~$2.7 trillion valuation — making SpaceX one of the most valuable companies in the world within days of its IPO.
- SpaceX exercised its greenshoe option, adding 83.3 million shares and lifting total IPO proceeds to $86.2 billion ($85.7 billion after $500 million in underwriting expenses), the largest IPO in history.
- Retail traders bought as much SpaceX stock in its first two days as they purchased across the entire US stock market the prior week, per Vanda Research — easing concerns about the market’s ability to absorb the massive offering.
What Happened?
SpaceX shares rose 11% in premarket trading on Tuesday, poised to extend what is already one of the most dramatic post-IPO surges in market history. The stock gained more than 40% across its first two sessions after pricing its $75 billion IPO last week, and the third-day move puts it on track for a cumulative gain exceeding 50% from the offer price. The company has also exercised its greenshoe over-allotment option, selling an additional 83.3 million shares and pushing total proceeds from the listing to $86.2 billion — well above the already record-breaking initial offering. Retail investors have been a dominant force: Vanda Research found that retail buying of SpaceX in its first two trading days equaled all US retail stock purchases combined in the prior week.
Why It Matters?
SpaceX’s post-IPO performance is rewriting expectations for what a mega-IPO can do in the current market. At a $2.5 trillion-plus market cap, the company has leapfrogged most of the S&P 500 in just days, and is now approaching Amazon in total value. The retail frenzy — which Vanda Research data shows crowded out buying of virtually every other stock — illustrates the gravity SpaceX has as a cultural and financial phenomenon. The greenshoe exercise also signals that underwriters are confident in sustained demand: exercising the option at this scale means they are not worried about needing to support the stock price. For the broader IPO wave now in motion — with OpenAI and Anthropic expected to follow — SpaceX’s aftermarket performance is the most bullish possible signal.
What’s Next?
The key near-term question is where SpaceX stabilizes once the retail momentum wave passes. The stock has no lockup-free float overhang in the near term — only about 4.2% of shares were sold in the IPO — but that also means price discovery is happening on thin volume. Longer term, SpaceX must justify its valuation through execution on Starlink subscriber growth, government launch contracts, and the Starship program’s commercial prospects. Options trading began Tuesday, which will introduce a new dimension of volatility and hedging. The company’s trajectory over the next 90 days will shape the market’s appetite for the OpenAI and Anthropic listings that follow.
Source: Bloomberg
