The market is jubilant: SpaceX shares soared 32% after the historic IPO
The market situation is more than optimistic for Elon Musk's aerospace giant. Just two days after the largest initial public offering in world history, SpaceX (SPCX) shares continued their confident ascent. On the second day of trading, the price settled at $178, which is 32% higher than the offering price of $135 set last week.
Phenomenal start and three times oversubscription
SpaceX's initial public offering, organized with the participation of Goldman Sachs, has already entered the annals of history. The company raised approximately $75 billion, more than doubling the previous record held by Saudi Aramco ($29.4 billion in 2019). The key driver of this success was the enormous demand from investors: the order book was oversubscribed more than three times, reaching a volume of about $250 billion even before the official stock market debut. On Friday, the SPCX price jumped 19% to $160.95, and by Monday, quotes soared to $192.
SpaceX's market capitalization after listing on Nasdaq is estimated at approximately $2.3 trillion, which automatically places the company among the most expensive public corporations in the world. Elon Musk thus retains the status of the first trillionaire, albeit only on paper for now.
Wave of ETFs: issuers want to capitalize on the hype
Such a rapid rise did not go unnoticed by asset management companies. On Monday, GraniteShares launched leveraged exchange-traded funds: the 2x Long SpaceX Daily ETF (SPAL) and the 2x Short (SNK). Almost simultaneously, Defiance brought its double-long positioning strategy (SPCU) to market. The SPAL fee is 1.50%, and the instrument rebalances positions daily, targeting it exclusively for short-term trading.
Other experienced players joined the race — ProShares, Direxion, and Leverage Shares. In total, before the launch, regulators received about 25 applications for instruments related to SpaceX. Previously, Defiance's SPCL fund showed trading volume of about $10 million on its first day and gained about 46% before SPCX itself entered the market.
For comparison, assets under management for other popular leveraged funds, such as Direxion 2x Tesla (TSLL) and GraniteShares 2x Nvidia (NVDL), amount to about $6.5 billion and $4.4 billion, respectively. This clearly demonstrates how quickly retail investors are willing to enter aggressive bets on individual stocks.
Risks and long-term perspective
However, it is worth noting that the current stock price has noticeably outpaced expected financial results for 2025. Due to daily rebalancing of positions, such funds can generate losses even when SPCX rises over a long horizon. The risk will increase significantly when more shares enter the market in the coming weeks.
On the other hand, not all funds focused on SpaceX are geared towards short-term speculation. ARK Invest, for example, announced that it now holds SPCX in four active ETFs: ARKX, ARKQ, ARKK, and ARKW. The company purchased about 3.3 million shares for approximately $444 million during the SPCX debut. By the end of May, SpaceX's share in the ARK Venture Fund reached 11.38%, becoming the fund's largest position.
My analysis: Undoubtedly, the SpaceX IPO is a planetary-scale event that has reshaped the market. However, the current price has already factored in not only record demand but also a significant amount of hype. Investors, especially retail ones, should exercise extreme caution: volatility at these levels can be devastating for short-term positions, and long-term prospects remain unclear due to the lack of clear financial multiples. The market is buying the future, but paying for it with the present.