SpaceX’s IPO hits home. Here’s what investors are saying about the epic opening day

Investors struggled to find anything significant to say on the issue. space x The initial public offering will take place on the first day of trading on the Nasdaq Friday.

Despite large retail allocations and massive hype, trading was not particularly volatile and the positive momentum continued after the weekend market close.

The rocket launch, computing and satellite company delivered its largest IPO ever, with volume of more than 500 million shares, a closing price of more than $160, and an opening day market capitalization of more than $2.1 trillion.

The stock opened at $150 and closed nearly 20% above the Telegram offering price of $135 per share. It continued to rise in after-hours trading, reaching $166.85.

“The price was going to be $135 a week ago, it could have gone the other way, and where it’s trading now is probably a win-win for everyone involved,” Paul Meeks, head of technology research at Freedom Capital Markets, told CNBC during trading on Friday.

The stock began trading just after 11:30 a.m. and in less than two hours had soared 30% to an all-time high of $176.52. That’s when investors grabbed profits from the initial frenzy and started selling.

“How likely will retail sales be to create sellers? You’ll see that at $170, $180. You’ll see it trade relatively sideways and then sell off, and that could be happening right now,” Dan Alpert, founder of Westwood Capital, told CNBC on Friday afternoon.

The stock fell toward $158 in the afternoon, but rebounded a bit toward the close, settling at $160.95.

There were concerns on Wall Street that SpaceX’s announced retail quota of up to 30% would lead to even more volatile price swings.

“You never know what retail buyers will do with the inventory once it opens,” Alpert said. “As long as Wall Street is entrusting its stocks to institutional investors, especially buyers they don’t view as flippers, it’s much safer than introducing above-average retail interest.”

The IPO’s so-called perpetual futures price was priced at around $162 on the HyperLiquid platform midweek, and Friday’s closing price was close to that.

Many Wall Street analysts on Friday were concerned about whether SpaceX would live up to its huge valuation in the long term.

Commentary centered around the feasibility of a reusable Starship rocket, monetizing AI, and ultimately generating free cash flow.

Wall Street firm CFRA gave SpaceX a sell rating shortly after trading began.

But with the stock’s solid and strong performance on Friday, those concerns are likely to be carried into the future, at least for now.

Analysts said Friday that SpaceX should already be considered as part of a new category of market-defining megacap stocks that have evolved from the previously high-profile Magnificent Seven.

“It’s there,” Gil Luria, head of technical research at DA Davidson, told CNBC on Friday. “This includes some of our old favorites like Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Meta, and now SpaceX.”