SpaceX IPO sticks to landing. Here’s what investors are saying about its famous first day of trading

Investors were hard-pressed to find serious things to say about it SpaceX initial public offering on its first day of trading Friday on the Nasdaq.

Despite a large share of sales and a large amount of hype, trading was not particularly volatile and the positive momentum continued after the market closed over the weekend.

Launching rockets, the computer and satellite company delivered the largest IPO ever, with a trading volume of more than 500 million shares and a closing price of more than $160, making its first-day market capitalization more than 2.1 billion.

The stock opened at $150 and ended the day about 20% above its telegraph offering price of $135 per share. It continued to rise in after-hours trading, reaching $166.85.

“The price would have been $135 last week, but it could have gone in the other direction, and where it’s trading right now is probably a win for everyone involved,” Paul Meeks, head of technical research at Freedom Capital Markets, told CNBC during the trading day on Friday.

The stock began trading just after 11:30AM and rose 30 percent to its all-time high of $176.52 less than two hours later. That’s when investors start selling, reaping the benefits of early enthusiasm.

“To what extent will retail sales … lead to sellers? You can see that if something gets to $170 or $180. You can see it trade low and sell – which is probably happening as we speak,” Dan Alpert, founder of Westwood Capital, told CNBC on Friday afternoon.

Shares fell to $158 in the afternoon but rebounded a tad late in the day, to $160.95.

There has been some concern on Wall Street that SpaceX’s announced retail offer of up to 30% will lead to more price volatility.

“You never know what buyers are going to do with the stock after it opens,” Alpert said. “To the extent that Wall Street puts stock in institutional buyers, especially those they view as non-traffickers, you’re in a much safer boat than when you present a larger-than-average retail interest.”

The so-called perpetual IPO future was valued at around $162 on the Hyperliquid platform during the week, and Friday’s closing price was close to that.

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

Commentary focused on the performance of its reusable Starship rocket, AI monetization, and the end result of free cash flow.

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

But the stock’s steady and positive performance on Friday is likely to keep those worries at bay for the foreseeable future, at least for now.

Analysts said on Friday that SpaceX should already be considered part of a new category of mega-cap stocks, emerging from the past, the well-known Magnificent Seven.

“It’s there,” DA Davidson head of technology research Gil Luria told CNBC on Friday. “It includes some of our old favorites – Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Meta. Now it includes SpaceX.”