SpaceX Is Up 25% in August. Meet the 7 Vanguard ETFs That Just Bought More Shares.

Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX) held its initial public offering (IPO) on June 12. And by June 30, nine exchange-traded funds (ETFs) managed by Vanguard had already loaded up on shares.

Vanguard just updated its holdings. And as of July 31, seven of those nine ETFs bought more SpaceX, as the company is also known.

Here's why major ETFs will continue buying SpaceX, why their pace of buying could surge in August, and the Vanguard ETF to buy for investors looking to maximize their exposure to the company.

Image source: Getty Images.

The SpaceX buying spree cooled down

The Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF (NYSEMKT: VTI), which is the second-largest ETF in the world by net assets, holds by far the largest position in SpaceX among Vanguard's ETFs. But as you can see in the table below, it added only 53,439 shares in July -- a mere 0.3% increase over its June holdings.

Data source: Vanguard.

Two of the nine Vanguard ETFs that bought SpaceX in June slightly reduced their share counts in July -- the Vanguard Morningstar Growth ETF and the Vanguard Morningstar Mega Cap Growth ETF.

The biggest increase came from the Vanguard Communication Services ETF, which boosted its share count by 33%. This is also the ETF with the highest percentage weighting in SpaceX, at 1.5%. Whereas the Total Stock Market ETF is so huge that its SpaceX position is just 0.09% of the fund.

SpaceX buying could jump in August

Given that SpaceX is one of the 10 most valuable companies in the world, investors may have expected it to account for a larger share in major ETFs. But there are two key reasons that didn't happen.

The first is that SpaceX didn't begin unlocking shares until two days after it reported second-quarter 2026 earnings on Aug. 4. So, although July represents the first full month SpaceX was public, the supply of shares was virtually unchanged since its IPO. The fact that many Vanguard ETF holdings barely budged shows they entered large positions within weeks of SpaceX going public, then hit the pause button.

So right off the bat, a key takeaway for investors is to expect the same kind of lightning-fast accumulation of shares in planned blockbuster IPOs, such as Anthropic and OpenAI -- followed by a lull until more shares are unlocked.

Second, SpaceX's falling stock price could have also been a contributing factor to the slowdown. The shares fell 37% in July as investors braced for the first wave of share unlocks that lets insiders and early investor sell shares and the company's first earnings call since going public. This is why the market value of the company across all nine Vanguard ETFs declined month over month, even in the funds that increased their share counts. However, the stock has completely turned the corner and is up about 25% in August as of Aug. 19.

SpaceX is weighted in ETFs at a multiple of its float -- which are the shares available for trading on the Nasdaq. The float will increase as more shares hit the Nasdaq, and if the stock price rises. So far in August, the stock has staged a rapid recovery, even after 20% of Early Release Eligible Shares were unlocked. Another 7% of Early Release Eligible Shares will be unlocked on Aug. 21.

SpaceX will become a top holding in this ETF

At this rate, I would expect passively managed funds, like the nine Vanguard ETFs discussed, to gobble up SpaceX in August. But the fund with the largest percentage weighting in the company will likely remain the Vanguard Communication Services ETF.

I correctly predicted that Vanguard would classify SpaceX in the communications sector, given that the majority of its revenue comes from its Starlink network of low-Earth-orbit satellites and its ownership of the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and xAI. The communications sector is unique because it includes legacy media companies, stodgy telecommunications giants, and entertainment companies. But it also holds some major growth stocks, including Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and Netflix.

As of Aug. 19, SpaceX has a market cap of $1.8 trillion, which puts it in second place in the fund behind Alphabet's $4.2 trillion market cap but ahead of Meta Platforms, which has a $1.4 trillion market cap.

Investors looking for an ETF in which SpaceX is likely to pole-vault into a top holding in the coming months may want to take a closer look at the Vanguard Communication Services ETF.

Daniel Foelber has positions in Netflix. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Netflix, and Vanguard Morningstar Growth ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.