The following is a guest editorial courtesy of Carolane de Palmas, Markets Analyst at Retail FX and CFDs broker ActivTrades.

The combination of a celebrity founder, a company tied to humanity’s most ambitious engineering projects, and years of inaccessibility to ordinary investors has produced an almost unprecedented level of retail enthusiasm. For many, the SpaceX initial public offering (IPO) represents a rare chance to get in early on a company they have watched from the sidelines for years. ActivTrades is set to offer Contracts for Difference (CFDs) on SpaceX shares on Friday through its online platform ActivTrader, giving traders access to one of the most anticipated market events in years.

SpaceX IPO: An IPO Unlike Any Other

The SpaceX initial public offering is shaping up to be unique. Where most large-cap IPOs follow a well-worn playbook — building a book of institutional orders, pricing within a range, and allocating a sliver to retail — SpaceX has rewritten the rules at almost every step.

First, rather than setting a pricing range and gauging demand, the company has issued a single, fixed price of $135 per share — a take-it-or-leave-it approach that signals confidence bordering on defiance of convention.

Then, the retail allocation is equally unusual: SpaceX has reportedly earmarked up to 30% of the offering for individual investors (around $22.5 billion), compared to the 5–10% that is standard for blockbuster IPOs of this scale. For European retail investors specifically, the prospectus sets aside up to 55.6 million newly issued Class A shares — approximately 10% of the public offering — accessible to eligible investors in France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, subject to local regulatory approval.

There is also the sheer scale of it. The offering is targeting approximately $75 billion in fresh capital, with the company expected to trade under the ticker SPCX beginning Friday, 12 June. If the pricing holds, SpaceX would enter the public markets at a valuation of roughly $1.75 trillion — making it one of the most valuable companies ever to list.

Trading the SpaceX IPO via ActivTrader

As SpaceX prepares to enter the public markets, ActivTrades CCO Nedko Geshev commented on what traders should expect in the days surrounding the listing:

“The SpaceX IPO is already generating extraordinary levels of market attention, and we fully expect that to translate into significant price volatility. Some traders see this as a company with once-in-a-generation upside potential; others look at the valuation and the absence of near-term profitability and expect the market to correct sharply. Both views have serious proponents. What is clear is that sharp moves in either direction are very likely in the short term. CFDs give traders the flexibility to express a view on that volatility — long or short — without committing to the full exposure of direct share ownership.”

The broker highlights that CFDs are leveraged products that carry a high level of risk. Traders should therefore ensure they understand these mechanisms before getting into CFD trading, as this type of trading is not suitable for all investors.

SpaceX IPO: Opportunities and Risks for Traders

The bullish investment case for SpaceX is built on real, tangible businesses rather than pure speculation. Starlink is already a commercial operation with a growing global subscriber base, generating the kind of recurring revenue that sets SpaceX apart from the speculative space ventures of the past. The Starship mega-rocket, if it reaches full operational maturity, could radically reduce the cost of reaching orbit and unlock entirely new commercial markets. In the launch business itself, SpaceX holds a commanding position with few credible competitors at its scale.

The financial outlook, however, is less appealing. The company generated over $18.5 billion in revenue in 2025, yet still recorded a net loss of $4.94 billion — and its own prospectus makes no promises of near-term profitability. That loss has a concrete structural consequence for investors: SpaceX will not qualify for S&P 500 inclusion for at least a year after listing, given the index’s profitability requirements. This matters more than it might appear, since admission to the S&P 500 would trigger automatic buying from the trillions of dollars held in passive index-tracking funds. Some index providers have confirmed SpaceX would be eligible for fast-entry rules once it meets the criteria, but that potential catalyst remains firmly in the future.

On the valuation side, the $1.75 trillion entry price is perhaps the most debated aspect of the IPO. At that level, a substantial portion of SpaceX’s long-term growth potential appears already reflected in the IPO price, which leaves limited room for upside unless the company significantly exceeds its projections. Those who believe the stock is overpriced point to this lack of upside as the most straightforward bear case.

Governance is another structural concern for public investors. Elon Musk is set to retain roughly 85% of voting rights, concentrating all meaningful corporate decision-making in a single individual. His parallel leadership of Tesla and several other ventures only amplifies that concentration risk — a point institutional analysts have raised repeatedly in their early assessments.

The space sector itself carries inherent operational exposure. Launch failures, regulatory delays, and the cost of frontier engineering have undermined well-capitalised programmes before. Starship, in particular, has come to function as a kind of binary variable in how investors price SpaceX’s future: its success appears largely assumed at current valuations, while a serious setback would not be.

Traders should also consider the typical trading patterns that follow high-profile technology listings, as they frequently see their initial enthusiasm give way to selling pressure within weeks, as institutional holders take profits, early investors approach lock-up expiries, and retail momentum fades. SpaceX’s exceptional profile makes it no less subject to that pattern.

Finally, European and UK traders face an additional risk: currency risk. Because shares are priced and traded in US dollars, returns will be shaped not only by the stock’s performance but also by movements in the dollar against the euro or sterling.

Sources: Euronews, Reuters

The information provided does not constitute investment research. The material has not been prepared in accordance with the legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is to be considered to be a marketing communication.

All information has been prepared by ActivTrades (“AT”). The information does not contain a record of AT’s prices, or an offer of or solicitation for a transaction in any financial instrument. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information.

Any material provided does not have regard to the specific investment objective and financial situation of any person who may receive it. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. AT provides an execution-only service. Consequently, any person acting on the information provided does so at their own risk. Forecasts are not guarantees. Rates may change. Political risk is unpredictable. Central bank actions may vary. Platforms’ tools do not guarantee success.