SpaceX shares rise 8% as Nasdaq-100 inclusion looms

SpaceX shares rose 8% to $173.67 on Monday, extending gains after the company’s record initial public offering and the exercise of underwriters’ overallotment. Investors are expecting the firm may join the Nasdaq-100 soon, which could prompt index-driven buying.

The stock debuted on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX at an IPO price of $135 and gained 19% on its first day to close at $160.95. The underwriters’ overallotment was exercised, expanding the total amount raised through the offering to $85.7 billion. More than 500 million shares changed hands on the first day of trading.

Inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 would require funds that track the index to buy shares to match index weights. Analysts estimate those passive inflows could range from $7 billion to $10 billion. Indexes maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices require newly public companies to wait at least 12 months before they are eligible for inclusion.

Large mutual funds and hedge funds were active buyers during the listing. ARK Invest purchased nearly 3.3 million SpaceX shares in the first trading session, creating a position valued at more than $500 million at the close. The ARK Innovation ETF accounted for most of those purchases and ended the day with SpaceX representing 3.28% of its portfolio.

Investor interest was heightened after Elon Musk wrote on social media that SpaceX revenue “could exceed $1 trillion by 2030.” The company plans to begin deploying orbital AI data centers in 2028. Its terrestrial data-center business, merged into SpaceX in February after being part of xAI, rents computing capacity to customers including Anthropic and Google.

Some analysts warned the rally may be extended. CFRA initiated coverage with a Sell rating and a 12-month price target of $115, citing the company’s aggressive expansion plans and capital requirements. Morningstar placed a $63 valuation on the shares in a June 8 note.

SpaceX’s early gains came as the market rotated back into high-growth and AI-linked technology shares. Memory-chip maker Micron, storage firms Seagate and Western Digital posted gains, and Nvidia was up about 2%. The S&P 500 rose roughly 1.5% on Monday.