SpaceX Opened at $150: What Else Happened on Day 1?

After all the fanfare heading into its initial public offering (IPO), Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX) completed its first day as a publicly traded company on June 12. It was a record-breaking day for many reasons, including SpaceX becoming one of the most valuable companies in the world.

Let's look back at that first day of trading and consider what happened to other space stocks and what to think about now that the big day is in the history books.

Image source: Getty Images.

How SpaceX performed on the first day of trading

After pricing its IPO at $135 per share, SpaceX opened to the public at $150 per share on June 12. Shares jumped to $176.52 at their highest that day, then closed the day at $160.95.

From the $135 IPO price, it was a 19.2% gain. For retail investors who bought shares at $150, the one-day return was 7.3%. For the debut, more than 500 million shares were traded, which fell short of the roughly 580 million traded for Facebook (now Meta Platforms) in 2012, but the volume still showed massive demand and interest.

SpaceX finished June 12 with a $2.1 trillion market cap, making it not only more valuable than Elon Musk's other company, Tesla ($1.5 trillion market cap), but also placing it in the top 10 most valuable companies in the world by market cap value. The stock has continued to rise since then.

How the space sector responded

While SpaceX hit the ground running, other space stocks did not fare so well. That could be due to a combination of factors, including investors potentially selling other space stocks to buy shares of SpaceX. According to Bloomberg, retail investors reportedly submitted more than $100 billion in orders for SpaceX ahead of the IPO.

Rocket Lab, a competitor with its own rocket launch services, dropped more than 10% on SpaceX's first day of trading. Shares of AST SpaceMobile, which competes with SpaceX in the satellite communications market, dipped 15.5%. For EchoStar, a telecommunications and satellite company that could own a 2% stake in SpaceX, shares fell nearly 11%. Volatility for these companies and the space sector is likely to continue in the short term as the markets are still digesting what to make of SpaceX's debut.

Invest in SpaceX now or stay on the sidelines?

For retail investors, one of the most important facts to keep in mind with this IPO is that the IPO price -- not available to most investors -- was $135; SpaceX stock opened to the public at $150 per share. That distinction is important because many headlines focus on the 19% first-day gains from the IPO pricing. Hearing that number can make retail investors feel as if they missed out, which could lead to an emotion-based investing decision.

Most retail investors paid $150 or more for their shares, and the stock closed June 16 at $201.80. For anyone sitting on the sidelines, that means they haven't missed anything. There is still plenty of time to decide whether SpaceX is the right fit for their portfolio. Successful investing is done over the long term.

For those interested in owning SpaceX, it can now be easily bought through a brokerage account under the symbol SPCX. For those who need to set up a brokerage account, Motley Fool Money has a guide and recommendations. For those more comfortable with an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that holds SpaceX, there are several options, including Tema Space Innovators ETF .

Jack Delaney has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AST SpaceMobile, Meta Platforms, Rocket Lab, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.