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SpaceX, which made the largest-ever debut on the U.S. stock market, drew 56% of retail investors' net buying on its first trading day, according to data. Attention is now focused on whether SpaceX, which has emerged as a stock representing the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, can drive further gains in U.S. equities going forward.
According to CNBC on the 15th (local time), market research firm Vanda Research tallied retail investors' net buying of SpaceX at $117.6 million (about 177.8 billion won) on its first trading day. That accounted for 56% of all retail net buying across the U.S. stock market that day.
The scale of retail money flowing into SpaceX on its first day stands out even compared with other large IPOs, observers say. Coinbase, which listed in 2021, saw about $92 million in retail net buying on its first day, while Uber, listed in 2019, saw about $58.7 million.
However, the retail fervor appears confined to SpaceX alone. This means that overall retail investor sentiment has not revived to the point of broadly boosting trading. In fact, according to Vanda Research, retail investors' net buying of individual stocks last week stood at $209.3 million, the lowest level since March 2020.
Boosted by strong investor interest, SpaceX's stock has continued to soar. SpaceX closed at $192.50 on the New York Stock Exchange that day, up 19.6% from the previous session. After rising 19.3% on its first day, the stock posted gains of around 20% for two consecutive days.
Its corporate value is also swelling rapidly. According to market cap tracker CompaniesMarketCap, SpaceX's market capitalization rose to about $2.52 trillion, the sixth-largest in the world. The gap with fifth-ranked Amazon (about $2.65 trillion) is not large.
Amid the IPO frenzy, there was considerable dissatisfaction among retail investors who failed to secure sufficient allocations. CNBC reported that online investment communities saw a string of complaints from those who applied for hundreds or thousands of shares but received only a small fraction. One investor said they applied for 1,000 SpaceX shares through Robinhood but received only 17, and sold their entire holding immediately after listing.
However, as the joint underwriters of the SpaceX IPO exercised the over-allotment option (greenshoe), the total new capital raised through the listing increased to $85.7 billion (about 130 trillion won).
Some predict that SpaceX, having established itself as a symbol of the AI investment boom, could drive further gains in U.S. equities. Julian Emanuel, equity strategist at investment bank Evercore ISI, forecast that the S&P 500 index could rise to 9,000 under a bullish scenario. "The SpaceX IPO, like Netscape's listing 30 years ago, could stimulate investors' 'fear of missing out' (FOMO) sentiment and serve as a catalyst for the next bull market," he said, adding that "the early investment enthusiasm for large IPOs is a positive signal for the market."
