Key facts
- SpaceX shares surged 22% to $163 on their debut, valuing the company at over $2 trillion.
- The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on expectations of an imminent end to the Middle East conflict.
- Four U.S. states had challenged Nasdaq and FTSE Russell over rule changes that could facilitate the inclusion of megacap IPOs like SpaceX into major stock indexes.
- SpaceX's IPO is the largest public listing in Wall Street history.
- Energy stocks led gains in the S&P 500, which rose 0.51%.
SpaceX shares surged 22% to $163 on their debut, marking Wall Street's largest public listing in history and valuing the company at over $2 trillion. The benchmark S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow rose in choppy trading, aided by expectations for an imminent end to the Middle East conflict, following comments from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Iran indicated that an "Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding" for addressing the conflict was close to finalization, which supported risk sentiment broadly. SpaceX's debut was closely watched as a test of investor appetite for large IPOs, particularly those linked to AI and space sectors, with only 3% to 4% of shares available for trading.
Other space stocks like Rocket Lab, Intuitive Machines, and Planet Labs eased, falling between 9.1% and 13.4%. Energy stocks led S&P 500 gains, rising 1.7%, while chip stocks were volatile, with Nvidia flat and Advanced Micro Devices adding 5% after a rating upgrade. Megacap stocks Amazon.com and Apple slipped.
Four U.S. states had previously challenged Nasdaq and FTSE Russell over rule changes that could facilitate the inclusion of megacap IPOs like SpaceX into major stock indexes, citing concerns about investor risks, volatility, and conflicts of interest. Despite these concerns, SpaceX's IPO proceeded, with its stock opening significantly above the IPO price.