SpaceX Stock Surges 14% on First Full Day After Record IPO

SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) shares surged more than 14% on Monday, the company’s first full day of trading, extending the massive gains from its historic stock market debut on Friday. The rally pushed the aerospace and AI company’s market capitalization above $2.2 trillion and cemented Elon Musk’s status as the world’s first trillionaire.

Shares climbed to approximately $184 on Monday, according to BBC News, adding to the 19% gain the stock posted on its first day of trading Friday. The continued momentum reflects extraordinary investor enthusiasm for a company that has rapidly transformed from a rocket startup into one of the most valuable publicly traded enterprises in the world.

The Largest IPO in History

SpaceX’s public debut on Friday shattered all previous records. The company priced its IPO at $135 per share, raising $75 billion — and later expanded to $85.7 billion through the exercise of a greenshoe overallotment option. That sum surpassed the previous record held by Saudi Aramco, which raised $26 billion in 2019.

According to CNBC, the stock opened at $150 on Friday and closed at $160.95, with an intraday high of $176.52. More than 500 million shares changed hands on the first day, approaching the volume seen during Facebook’s 2012 debut. Retail demand was unprecedented: Citadel Securities reported record IPO auction order activity, and over $100 billion in retail orders were received.

Monday’s Rally and Market Impact

The Monday surge added tens of billions to SpaceX’s valuation. At its Friday close, the company was valued at approximately $2.1 trillion, making it the sixth most valuable U.S. company. Monday’s gains pushed that figure past $2.2 trillion, according to CBS News.

SpaceX’s debut had a notable “crowding out” effect on other space stocks. Firefly Aerospace sank 18%, while Rocket Lab, Redwire, and Intuitive Machines each dropped at least 10%. Virgin Galactic plunged 34% as investors rotated into the newly public industry leader.

Financial Reality vs. Sky-High Valuation

Despite the euphoria, SpaceX’s financial fundamentals present a stark contrast to its trillion-dollar valuation. The company has accumulated $41.3 billion in total losses since its founding in 2002. In 2025, it generated $18.7 billion in revenue but posted a net loss of $4.9 billion. Between January 2025 and March 2026, losses totaled $8.7 billion.

By comparison, the next smallest trillion-dollar club member by revenue, Micron, recorded over $58 billion in sales over the past four quarters — more than three times SpaceX’s revenue. All other trillion-dollar companies are profitable.

CFRA Research analyst Keith Snyder assigned SpaceX a sell rating with a 12-month price target of $115 — well below the IPO price. “The growth levels that would be required within the AI segment and with premium multiples, which simply have to be astronomical, kind of borderline comical, to get to the valuations we’re talking about,” Snyder told CNBC.

The AI Bet

SpaceX’s bull case rests heavily on its artificial intelligence ambitions. The company acquired Musk’s AI startup xAI in February 2026, bringing Grok AI models, data centers, and the social network X under its umbrella. In April, SpaceX signed an agreement to acquire AI coding startup Cursor for $60 billion.

Altimeter Capital CEO Brad Gerstner, an investor in the IPO, told CNBC: “In a few years, they’re going to be the largest AI hyperscaler in the United States.” SpaceX claims a total addressable market of $28.5 trillion, though critics — including the “Dean of Valuation” — have called that figure a “hallucination.”

Political Reaction and What’s Next

The IPO has sparked political debate about wealth inequality. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called for a wealth tax and criticized the SEC for approving the offering, writing that “Trump’s SEC greenlit an IPO with numbers analysts have called ‘nonsensical.’” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani also weighed in, calling to “tax the rich.”

Looking ahead, SpaceX is expected to join the Nasdaq 100 and Russell indices, potentially opening the door to 401(k) and passive investment flows. Former Nasdaq chief Robert Greifeld predicted that OpenAI and Anthropic would follow SpaceX to the public market this year.

However, a Truist analysis of 30 major tech IPOs found that more than half posted negative returns a year after their first trading day. With a price-to-sales ratio exceeding 80x — far above the 30x ceiling typical of mega-cap tech — the question remains whether SpaceX can justify its place among the world’s most valuable companies.

This article was compiled from CNBC, BBC News, CBS News, and Reuters reporting.