June 11 - SpaceX met its $75 billion fundraising target in a widely watched initial public offering on Thursday, selling all shares at a fixed price of $135 each. That price placed the enterprise value of the space, satellite and AI company at $1.77 trillion, marking the biggest IPO ever recorded. The company is set to begin trading on the Nasdaq on Friday.
Industry and market observers responded quickly to the offering, framing the deal as both a milestone for the IPO market and a pivotal event for the company itself.
Views from market participants
"The IPO parade, which now looks like it’s turning into a stampede, has been coming for a while. You could argue there were flickers of it as early as last year, but it never fully materialized into a broad wave of companies. SpaceX is going to be the bellwether."
- Mark Klein, CEO and president of Suro Capital
Other investors focused on SpaceX’s mixed business proposition, which combines ambitious hardware milestones with recurring revenue from satellite internet.
"From our perspective, it is definitely an AI company, but we’re focused on the benefits, scale, and cost reductions that could come from building data centers in space and from making Starship fully reusable. They’re not there yet. They’re saying the second half of 2026, but that would be a game changer in our view.
And then they’ve got the profit generator in Starlink. The TAM on that business is pretty compelling, and I think they’re only scratching the surface."
- Nancy Tengler, CEO and chief investment officer of Laffer Tengler Investments
Portfolio managers emphasized the growth attributes of SpaceX while noting the long-term nature of the investment case.
"SpaceX is the ultimate growth stock. I think this is a company with significant growth potential ahead of it. It’s definitely going to be a long-term story, and I think it will take time for the stock to find its footing in the public markets. But there are a lot of exciting opportunities ahead."
- John Belton, portfolio manager of GABGX at Gabelli Funds
Other strategists cautioned about typical IPO price dynamics and the particular risks for certain classes of investors.
"What we’ve seen with many high-profile IPOs is an initial surge in price followed by a period where investors give some of those gains back. I think that’s the most likely scenario here as well."
"My concern is that retail investors who receive allocations may not take profits soon enough and could get hurt if the stock pulls back. More importantly, investors who missed the IPO may chase the stock in the secondary market after a significant run-up, and historically those investors tend to be the most vulnerable if momentum reverses."
- Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets
Questions about the offering mechanics were also raised, with attention to the fact that the company set and maintained a single proposed share price.
"Normally I’d say that pricing at the expected terms doesn’t indicate a ton of enthusiasm, but this may be the exception. Here we just don’t know. Sure, an upsizing or downsizing would have given us a signal. But the company set a single proposed price, and stuck with it.
"We don’t know what kind of demand is behind that number, or will appear tomorrow, so I wouldn’t feel comfortable guessing. Also, this is already a complex offering, so changing the price would have been a significant hurdle. It’s true they could have changed the share offering more easily. But it fits the \"take it or leave it\" ethos of the terms."
- Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital
What this means going forward
The offering establishes SpaceX as one of the most valuable public companies at the moment, while putting a spotlight on several operational milestones and market dynamics highlighted by investors: the potential for data-center-like operations in space, the status of Starship reusability timing, and Starlink’s revenue potential. Market participants also flagged the possibility of typical IPO volatility - an early price spike followed by a period of consolidation - and cautioned about the behavior of retail investors in the immediate aftermarket.
Shares will commence trading on the Nasdaq on Friday under their offering terms. Observers and investors will likely look to early trading to assess demand dynamics and price discovery for what is the largest IPO in history.