Space stocks reversed overnight losses heading into Thursday, as SpaceX doubled down on its retail-investor push ahead of its landmark Nasdaq debut.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is set to pitch the SpaceX IPO to more than 2,500 wealthy clients alongside senior SpaceX executives across several cities this week, Bloomberg reported.
Dimon will be joined by Mary Callahan Erdoes, CEO of JPMorgan’s asset and wealth management unit, along with SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and CFO Bret Johnsen for a nationwide investor event.
Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB), Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ: LUNR), and Sidus Space (NASDAQ: SIDU) each gained 1% in overnight trading, while Firefly Aerospace (NASDAQ: FLY) added 0.5%.
The gains came after a brutal Wednesday selloff driven by investor concerns over SpaceX’s lofty valuation ahead of its scheduled June 12 Nasdaq debut.
SpaceX publicly disclosed a fixed IPO price of $135 per share on Wednesday, an unusual move that typically sees companies announce a price range during the roadshow process instead.
The company is targeting a $75 billion raise and a fully diluted valuation above $1.8 trillion, which would surpass Saudi Aramco’s record as the largest public offering in history.
SpaceX is reportedly allocating as much as 30% of the offering to individual investors, significantly above the retail participation typically seen in high-profile public listings.
Retail investors using platforms including Robinhood, SoFi, Fidelity, Charles Schwab and E*Trade will be able to purchase IPO shares “at the same initial public offering price, and at the same time” as institutional investors, according to SpaceX’s S-1 filing.
The company acknowledged in its filing that elevated retail ownership could increase post-listing volatility, a notable admission given the scale of anticipated individual participation.
Access to SpaceX IPO allocations has grown fiercely competitive, with one institutional investor reportedly saying that obtaining shares had become a “David Solomon level decision” at Goldman Sachs.
SpaceX’s initial IPO filing sparked a broad rally across space stocks after the company described its opportunity as the “largest actionable total addressable market in human history.”
The company estimated a $28.5 trillion opportunity spanning launch services, Starlink broadband, direct-to-cell communications, and AI infrastructure.
Rocket Lab is drawing additional investor attention following its Motiv Space Systems acquisition, now operating as Rocket Lab Robotics, which supplies technology for NASA missions including the Mars Perseverance rover.
In a post on X late Wednesday, Rocket Lab said “we’re one of the few companies capable of delivering complete Mars mission solutions, including launch + spacecraft + software, and now proven robotics for surface and orbital operations too.”
CEO Peter Beck said the acquisition gives Rocket Lab “everything needed to lead the next era of Mars exploration and support the most demanding space infrastructure of tomorrow.”
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for RKLB and SIDU was rated “bullish,” FLY was rated “extremely bullish,” and LUNR was rated “neutral,” with message volume running high for FLY and SIDU.
One Stocktwits user wrote, “$RKLB Screaming buys! This will go to 170 by space x ipo date, don’t miss it.”
Over the past year, RKLB has surged 329%, while LUNR and SIDU have gained 207% and 188% respectively, though FLY remains down 34% over the same period.
