SpaceX IPO explained: Pricing set, retail yet undetermined

there is nothing space xIPO is normal. The rocket maker aims to raise a record amount of money at a historic valuation by a wide margin, and will be led by Elon Musk, who is also the company’s CEO. teslaanother trillion dollar company.

As for the structure of the stock sale, SpaceX is offering a range as is customary for IPOs, offering a “take it or leave it” price of $135, rather than setting the deal price based on demand.

But once IPOs begin Thursday, certain practices will become familiar to Wall Street. At some point, all of the IPO shares, worth about $75 billion, must be allocated to underwriters and asset managers so that they can be delivered to customers before trading opens on Friday.

“Elon has set the price, so assuming investors follow suit, he can check that box,” said Lise Bayer, founder of IPO consultancy Class V Group. “But someone has to decide where the stock is going.”

For common products, pricing is done on the eve of market debut. In the weeks leading up to that point, issuers work with underwriters to set a price range, increasing the price range if investors show signs of enthusiasm.

For example, an artificial intelligence chip maker cerebrum was preparing for an IPO last month, when the company initially announced it would sell shares for $115 to $125 per share. The following week, the price range rose to between $150 and $160.

IPO prices should reflect how investors feel about the final range, and companies generally prefer prices above the highest price. Cerebras ultimately priced its offering at $185, a sign of Wall Street’s growing excitement about a pure AI IPO. The stock soared at the start of trading the next day, rising 68% to close at more than $311.

SpaceX is bypassing the entire construction process.

Ahead of last week’s abbreviated roadshow, the company announced a stock price of $135 and a projected market cap of $1.77 trillion. This is the case for a company that generated $18.7 billion in revenue last year and posted an operating loss of $4.2 billion.

Of the nine $1 trillion publicly traded companies, the ones with the least revenue are: micron With net income of $58 billion over the past year, Musk’s other company, Tesla, has the least profit, with net income of $3.8 billion in 2025.

“Investors aren’t doing the math at home,” Bayer said. “There’s no meaningful mathematics at all.”

Because the price is set, SpaceX can start allocating shares earlier than usual and doesn’t have to wait until the actual price is set, Bayer said. This is especially useful given the number of shares that need to be distributed.

SpaceX told investors it plans to stop taking orders a day earlier on Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the details are private. This will give the company and its underwriters all of Thursday to plan allocations for the record IPO, one of the people said. This process is typically shorter, with allocations occurring closer to market launch after a formal price has been determined.

SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment.

SpaceX’s early exit is all the more important because SpaceX wants individual investors to receive about 30% of the shares sold, totaling about $22.5 billion. According to Fidelity, the retail percentage is typically between 5% and 10%.

SpaceX’s prospectus lists the following: charles schwabfidelity, robin hood, SoFi and morgan stanley’s E-Trade is part of the brokerage platform where you can get stocks. The final retail allocation cannot be determined until after closing.

Robinhood has indicated it intends to sell 20% to 35% of its shares to retail investors in its 2021 IPO. The quota ended up being at the lower end of that range, CNBC reported at the time. The stock fell 8% on its debut.

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