Blockbuster SpaceX IPO set to test high-flying US stocks rally
Blockbuster SpaceX IPO set to test high-flying US stocks rally
By Lewis KrauskopfFri, June 5, 2026 at 8:40 PM UTC
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The Bank of America headquarters building in New York City is lit up for the SpaceX initial public offering as it is seen from West New York, New Jersey, U.S., June 4, 2026. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
By Lewis Krauskopf
NEW YORK, June 5 (Reuters) - The long-awaited, massive SpaceX initial public offering is expected next week, a major event for the U.S. stock market, with investors wary of possible overexuberance.
Stock indexes fell on Friday as strong jobs data ignited fears of hawkish monetary policy and semiconductor shares tumbled after a torrid run. The benchmark S&P 500 posted a weekly decline after nine straight weeks of gains.
The S&P 500 was still up about 8% in 2026, including a 16% rebound since its late-March low for the year.
"Nothing has stuck in terms of pessimism in the last two months," said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist for Nationwide. "There is just this underpinning of momentum, this insatiable appetite for tech holdings and just the technical buying spree that is really dwarfing almost all other inputs."
Next week, investors will also assess fresh data on consumer and producer prices, after the jobs report fueled fears that the Federal Reserve would focus on calming inflation, potentially leading to interest rate hikes. The coming week also brings earnings reports from key companies in the technology sector, which has driven the market's recent surge despite a sour end to the week.
Some investors have been bracing for a pause, if not a pullback, after the sharp rally. Risks include the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and the potential for renewed spikes in energy prices if Middle East tensions flare.
Elon Musk's SpaceX is aiming to raise $75 billion, the most ever for an IPO, in a deal that would value it at $1.75 trillion. Pricing is expected on June 11, with trading to begin on the Nasdaq the next day.
The company has an unusual and diverse set of businesses, including rockets, satellite communications and AI computing. Adding in the involvement of Musk — Tesla's leader and the world's wealthiest man — and SpaceX's valuation is tricky to pin down, rising to exorbitant levels by some measures. The company posted a net loss of $4.94 billion in 2025, even as revenue rose 33% to $18.67 billion.
The IPO could lure significant attention from retail investors and provide another high-profile way to gain exposure to the AI trade.
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"We've got one of the biggest IPOs in history coming ... which I think is the focus of everybody's interest," said Jason Pride, chief of investment strategy and research at Glenmede. "The question mark surrounding it is whether it's an indication of market froth."
SpaceX's debut is expected to be followed by other mega IPOs in the coming months from Anthropic and OpenAI, two of the AI leaders. Anthropic, which makes the Claude chatbot, said this week it has confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO.
The SpaceX IPO is "an important benchmark," said Matt Wittmer, a portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments, adding that "the company itself will be playing in some of those key areas that people are looking for to find new secular growth opportunities."
CPI DATA DUE, ORACLE, ADOBE TOO
The May Consumer Price Index, due on Wednesday, will show how surging oil and gasoline prices are influencing inflation. One concern is the extent to which higher energy prices might be affecting other CPI components, Pride said, ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting this month.
"The Federal Reserve is going to be watching this like a hawk," Pride said. "They're going to want to see those pieces continue to remain stable and not increase as a pass-through from the energy and food prices."
In the wake of the spike in energy prices, futures are factoring in a greater chance the Fed raises interest rates this year rather than cuts, after markets had anticipated equity-friendly rate decreases at the start of 2026.
Other economic data next week includes Thursday's report on producer prices.
Quarterly reports from tech companies Oracle and Adobe will also be in focus. Tech has long dominated the U.S. stock market, but the sector's recent outperformance pushed it to more than 39% of the S&P 500's market capitalization this week, its highest share on record.
The results will test the strength of the tech trade and the rebound in the software industry, which was hit hard to start the year on concerns about AI disruptions. Shares of Oracle are up more than 9% this year, while Adobe is down 28%.
"Getting more data points from some of the AI value chain is going to be important," Wittmer said.
(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Colin Barr and Rod Nickel)
Source: “AOL Money”
