SpaceX Debut Draws Huge Retail Demand and Steady Trading on Nasdaq

SpaceX made its long-awaited public-market debut on Nasdaq on Friday, and investors had little to criticize. Despite unusually large retail allocation and sky-high expectations, the first session was not especially volatile, and the stock held onto gains into the weekend.

The rockets, computing and satellite company delivered the biggest IPO in history, with more than 500 million shares traded and a closing price above $160. That gave SpaceX a first-day market value of more than $2.1 trillion. Citadel Securities, the largest retail wholesaler, said SpaceX saw the highest retail order activity it has ever observed in an IPO auction.

The stock began trading after 11:30 a.m., jumped 30% to an intraday peak of $176.52 in under two hours, then slipped as investors took profits. It fell back to around $158 in the afternoon before recovering slightly and ending at $160.95. More than 513 million SpaceX shares changed hands on Friday, while retail investors submitted more than $100 billion in orders and institutions also placed orders worth billions. Robinhood, which helped some retail investors access the offering, saw record traffic.

Wall Street had worried that SpaceX’s retail allocation, as high as 30%, would create bigger swings, but the debut stayed relatively orderly. Dan Alpert of Westwood Capital told CNBC, “You never know what retail buyers will do with a stock after it opens.” Will Rhind of GraniteShares told MarketWatch, “I’m not sure it could have gone much better for SpaceX.”

Still, many analysts questioned whether SpaceX can justify its enormous valuation over time, citing the viability of the reusable Starship program, AI monetization, and future free cash flow. CFRA issued a sell rating shortly after trading began and later set a $115 price target, saying the valuation appears to assume that several speculative ventures will scale successfully and calling that assumption “too aggressive.” SpaceX may be eligible for fast inclusion in major indexes next week, including the Nasdaq-100 after only 15 trading days, which would force passive funds to buy the stock.