SpaceX, the Largest IPO in History, Begins Trading

The technology and global capital markets recorded a new milestone today. SpaceX, the space transportation company owned by Elon Musk, officially debuted on the Nasdaq stock exchange on Friday (12/6) morning local time. The company’s shares will trade under the ticker symbol SPCX. Initial price indications were scheduled to appear at 09:50, although the opening process involving the synchronisation of thousands of orders from various investment banks typically takes several hours before a stable market price is formed. On Thursday evening, SpaceX and its underwriters set the IPO price at US$135 per share. This figure gives the company a market capitalisation of US$1.77 trillion before the first share changes hands on the exchange floor, placing SpaceX among the elite ranks of global technology firms. John Waldron, President of Goldman Sachs, stated that the SpaceX IPO is a strong signal of the market’s significant interest in funding future infrastructure. ‘This demonstrates the global capital market’s willingness to finance the development of AI infrastructure and expansion in outer space,’ he said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. Goldman Sachs acted as the lead underwriter, accompanied by other major financial institutions such as Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup. Despite the enthusiastic reception, not all parties agree with the US$1.77 trillion figure. Analysts from Morningstar offered a critical note, calling the company overvalued. Based on last year’s financial report, SpaceX recorded revenue of approximately US$19 billion but has not yet consistently generated net profit. Morningstar estimates SpaceX’s fair value to be around US$780 billion. Responding to this scepticism, SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell asserted that the company is focused on a long-term vision. ‘Look at our track record. We do extremely difficult things. SpaceX investors need to understand that we are building the future, not just a quarterly earnings report,’ Shotwell told CNBC. One notable aspect of this IPO is SpaceX’s commitment to providing access to individual investors. Around 30% of the IPO allocation was offered to retail investors through brokerage platforms such as Fidelity, E-Trade (Morgan Stanley), Charles Schwab, and SoFi. This step is seen as an effort to democratise investment in frontier technology companies. The success of this IPO is also viewed as a referendum on Elon Musk’s leadership. Amid various social and political controversies involving the platform X (formerly Twitter), the performance of SPCX shares will be an indicator of the extent of market confidence in Musk’s technology vision that extends beyond Earth.