And we’re off! SpaceX executives at the Nasdaq stock exchange have rung the opening bell,. the world’s biggest ever stock market flotation is underway.
There’s much celebrating at the Nasdaq,. also at SpaceX’s HQ where Elon Musk and his staff are also clapping excitedly.
A reminder. SpaceX is floating on the market at a valuation of $1.77tn after raising a record-breaking $75bn from investors through its IPO share sale.
The IPO price pushed up Musk’s wealth to $982.6bn. according to Forbes, so a small rise in the company’s share price today would make him the world’s first trillionaire.
The drama of today’s stock market float didn’t prevent SpaceX continuing with its day job.
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. to take 29 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.
Speaking before the company rang the Nasdaq opening bell, SpaceX chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell said:
double quotation mark “I want everyone to know that we opened in a rather exciting way. We launched. Falcon 9 launched Starlink satellites to orbit. What company would do such a thing on the day that they open in the public market? SpaceX would.”
Oxfam have also released polling showing. six in ten Britons (60%) think it is unacceptable for any individual to hold more than £1 trillion in personal wealth.
A timely finding, as SpaceX’s IPO appears to be poised to catapult Elon Musk into that position.
double quotation mark At the same time, three quarters of the public (76%) support a 2% wealth tax on assets over £10 million, which Oxfam says could raise an estimated £24 billion every year to help rebuild public services, reduce poverty. tackle inequality in the UK and around the world.
71% also believe the current economic system works mainly in the interests of the very wealthy rather than ordinary people - a finding the charity says reflects growing public frustration with extreme inequality. falling living standards.
The SpaceX valuation appears to be slipping back towards earth, rather like one of it’s impressive self-landing rockets.
Reuters are now reporting that SpaceX shares are indicated to open at $168. down from the $174 reported about 20 minutes after the market opened.
That’s still a hefty pop on the IPO price of $135, though, as the wrangling of the auction process continues.
Anti-poverty charity Oxfam warned earlier this week that Elon Musk’s imminent ‘government-backed trillionaire’ status marks “a dark day for democracy.”
They pointed out that Musk would be richer than the poorest 46% of the world population. or 3.8 billion people, combined.
Nabil Ahmed, senior director of economic justice at Oxfam America, said:
double quotation mark “A trillion dollars in the hands of one man is incompatible not only with an affordable economy,. also with a healthy democracy. Economic inequality begets political inequality,. ordinary people bear the brunt while billionaires continue to write the rules for their own benefit.”
SpaceX appears firmly on track for a $2tn valuation when its shares begin trading.
The ongoing auction process is now suggesting shares could start trading at $175. a big jump on the $135 which investors paid in this week’s initial public offering.
That would give SpaceX a stock market valuation of $2.287tn. I calculate, up from the $1.77tn valuation set in the IPO.
There’s plenty of razzmatazz outside the Nasdaq MarketSite today to mark SpaceX’s IPO, including large images of the company’s rockets:
SpaceX’s shares are indicated to open at $174. Reuters are reporting, based on the auction process taking place on the Nasdaq right now.
That would be 29% above the company’s IPO price, of $135.
It would push SpaceX’s valuation up from $1.77tn to $2.28tn.
It would also cement Elon Musk’s status as a trillionaire, as Forbes had pegged his wealth at $982.6bn based on the IPO price (Musk owns roughly 38% of SpaceX, plus shares. options in Tesla worth around $280bn).
It’s traditional for executives ringing the stock market opening bell to get terribly excited,. clap like a herd of performing seals, and SpaceX’s top brass did not disappoint:
The auction period before SpaceX’s shares start trading could take a few hours. agrees Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown:
double quotation mark “SpaceX has finally touched down on public markets,. the first few hours of trading once shares emerge from the auction period are likely to be noisy.
A company with this profile, this valuation. this level of investor attention is unlikely to drift quietly into the market. But early share price moves should not be mistaken for a clean verdict on the long-term investment case.
SpaceX are set to surge in its stock market debut today, predicts Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
But she points out it may take some time before the shares actually trade:
double quotation mark SpaceX’s IPO has been an historic market event for its sheer size. the scale of demand for its shares. Ahead of its debut on the Nasdaq, the shares are higher by 30% in the pre-market,. could start trading at $175 per share, up from the $135 IPO price, based on prediction markets.
There is so much enthusiasm for SpaceX right now, that it is hard to see the shares slipping anytime soon. The numbers are huge: SpaceX sold $75bn of shares at its IPO, which valued the company at $1.75 trillion. If the stock pops 30% today, then SpaceX will be worth more than $2.4 trillion. SpaceX’s IPO alone is greater than the amount raised in 22 of the last 25 years,. the its IPO generated more money than all IPOs in the US so far this year.
The shares may not trade straight away when the market opens, usually an IPO with this level of enthusiasm trades a few hours after the opening bell, to ensure a smooth transition to the stock market; to do this bankers will typically want to match buyers. sellers for 10% of shares. This should be easy, as we expect SpaceX to be extremely liquid today. The risk is that there are not enough sellers,. if the stock price is volatile, then circuit breakers could kick in, which may halt trading later today.
With trading underway in New York, two of the three major US share indices are a little higher.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 300.0 points, or 0.59%, at the open to 51,148.73.
The broader S&P 500 index has gained 0.22%.
But, the Nasdaq Composite is down 0.1%, suggesting a slight softening in tech stocks.
But what we really want to see is a trade in SpaceX’s shares….
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