At a glance: SpaceX priced its IPO at $135/share on June 11, 2026, confirming a $1.77 trillion valuation (CNBC; Yahoo Finance/CNBC video — a correction from an earlier version of this page, which carried a stale pre-pricing $1.75T estimate) and a $75 billion raise — the largest IPO in US history, more than triple Alibaba’s 2014 US listing. The roadshow began June 4 (accelerated about a week from earlier estimates). Trading opened on Nasdaq under SPCX on June 12, and the stock closed its first day at $161.11, up ~19%. SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen had said: “Retail is going to be a critical part of this and a bigger part than any IPO in history." SpaceX initially targeted a 30% retail allocation, but cut that to the low-20% range shortly before pricing as institutional demand overwhelmed the deal. Shares were accessible through Robinhood, Fidelity, Schwab, SoFi, and E*TRADE — but demand still far exceeded supply, and most retail investors received only a partial fill or nothing.

The standard playbook for a large IPO reserves roughly 10% of shares for retail investors (Fidelity’s own explainer on IPO share allocation describes the 90/10 institutional-to-retail split as standard). The other 90% typically goes to institutional clients of the underwriting syndicate — the hedge funds, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds that the big banks cultivate over decades.

SpaceX set out to do something different.

In an April 6, 2026 call with its banking syndicate, SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen said the company planned an outsized retail tranche, calling it “a critical part” of the offering and a bigger share than any IPO before it. CNBC reported in early June that SpaceX was targeting a 30% retail allocation — roughly triple the historical norm. Elon Musk has reportedly pushed for this structure, wanting everyday investors to participate at the same price and at the same time as institutional buyers.

According to a report cited by Barchart, one of SpaceX’s lead underwriters told the banking syndicate the expected retail demand would be something they’d “never seen before.”

That 30% figure did not hold. On pricing day, CNBC reported that SpaceX cut the retail tranche to the “low 20% range” as institutional demand for the deal overwhelmed the offering. At roughly 20-22% of a $75 billion raise, that puts the retail-directed dollar amount at roughly $15-16.5 billion — lower than the ~$22.5 billion the original 30% target implied, but still far more than most entire IPOs raise in total.

What that means practically: you can request shares. You are unlikely to get all of what you request. Here’s how to try, and what to expect.

The Timeline

DateEvent
May 20, 2026S-1 filed with SEC
May 22, 2026Starship V3 (Flight 12) debut test flight
June 4, 2026Investor roadshow begins
June 11, 2026Pricing (IPO price set at $135)
June 12, 2026Trading opens on Nasdaq (ticker: SPCX)

Update (June 11, 2026 — pricing day): SPCX priced at $135 per share tonight, locking in a $1.77 trillion valuation and a $75 billion raise — confirmed as the largest IPO in US history, more than triple the size of Alibaba’s 2014 US listing. Goldman Sachs held the lead-left position; Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan were the other active bookrunners. Earlier the same day, CNBC reported SpaceX had cut the retail tranche to the low-20% range, down from the 30% originally targeted, as institutional demand outstripped the offering. Retail allocations were distributed to the five platforms that night.

Update (June 12, 2026 — first trading day): SPCX opened at $150 and closed its first session at $161.11, up about 19.3% from the $135 IPO price, after trading as high as $176.52 intraday. SpaceX sold more than 555 million shares at the offer price. By the close, the company’s market value had climbed above $2 trillion.

Update (May 28, 2026): Reuters-sourced reporting confirmed SpaceX accelerated its IPO roadshow to begin June 4 — roughly one week earlier than earlier estimates of the week of June 8. The June 11 pricing and June 12 trading debut remain unchanged. The retail request windows on the brokerage platforms are expected to open during the roadshow week. Check your platform for specific availability dates.

Update (August 21, 2026 — two and a half months post-IPO): The first-day pop did not hold. SPCX sank almost 14% in a single session on August 5, 2026 — its second-worst day on record — closing at an all-time low of $108.27, ahead of an August 6 lock-up expiration that freed roughly 911.5 million insider shares (about $123 billion worth) for potential sale. Shares rose about 6% the day the lock-up actually unlocked, per CNN. As of this audit (August 21, 2026), SPCX trades around $134 — essentially back at the $135 IPO price and well below the $161.11 first-day close. Anyone who bought at the June 12 open-market price, or who is only now considering buying, should weigh that the “up 19% on debut” framing below reflects day-one trading only, not where the stock has traded since.

Why the Low-20% Retail Tranche Is Still Exceptional

For context on how unusual this is:

Fidelity’s own investor education materials describe the 90/10 institutional-to-retail split as the standard. Even after the cut, SpaceX’s final retail share was roughly double the norm — closer to a 4:1 institutional-to-retail split than the standard 9:1, though short of the roughly 2.3:1 ratio the original 30% target would have produced.

This is not charity. It reflects Musk’s stated preference for broad individual ownership and, practically, an acknowledgment that retail demand for SpaceX will be unlike anything the market has processed. By routing it through established platforms rather than leaving it entirely to aftermarket buying, SpaceX can capture that demand at IPO price while giving retail investors the same terms as institutions.

Platform by Platform

Robinhood

Robinhood has established an IPO Access feature that lets users request shares in upcoming offerings directly inside the app.

For SPCX:

  • Ensure IPO Access is enabled in your account settings
  • Place a conditional offer to buy (COB) — you indicate how many shares you want; Robinhood says “each customer’s eligible request has the same likelihood of receiving all, some, or none of the IPO shares they request”
  • Robinhood’s IPO Access program advertises no account minimums
  • Any shares not allocated are returned to your buying power once allocation is finalized

Robinhood’s COB process is designed for exactly this scenario: massive demand, limited shares, partial fills likely.

What to expect: Robinhood will likely see the highest volume of requests of any retail platform given its user base. Allocation per user may be very small.

Fidelity

Fidelity offers IPO access through its brokerage platform, with its own share-allocation explainer describing how retail allocations typically work.

For SPCX:

Fidelity is one of five brokerage platforms Fortune identified as ways for retail investors to access SPCX: Robinhood, SoFi, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Schwab.

Charles Schwab

Schwab has the most restrictive publicly disclosed access requirement of the five retail platforms named for SPCX.

For SPCX:

  • Minimum $100,000 in eligible assets at Schwab, including individual accounts and IRAs, but excluding 401(k)s
  • Must complete an eligibility questionnaire and submit a Conditional Offer to Participate through Schwab’s IPO Center
  • Certain investment-objective and liquid-net-worth criteria also apply, per Schwab’s own IPO guide

The $100,000 threshold is Schwab’s standard requirement for IPO participation, not something unique to SpaceX. But it will effectively exclude a significant portion of retail investors from accessing SPCX through Schwab at IPO price.

If you are a Schwab client who meets the eligibility bar, check the IPO Center section of your account during the roadshow week.

SoFi

SoFi participated in the Rivian IPO in 2021, offering early customer access alongside Rivian’s own pre-order-customer allocation.

For SPCX:

  • Requires an active SoFi Self-Directed Invest account (not a managed account); SoFi states there is no minimum balance requirement
  • Complete an IPO suitability questionnaire before requesting shares — if the IPO isn’t deemed suitable for you, SoFi lets you acknowledge that and invest anyway
  • Submit an indication of interest once the IPO is live on the platform

SoFi says its questionnaire is meant to confirm you understand IPO-specific risks such as lock-up periods and the possibility of trading below the IPO price.

E*TRADE (Morgan Stanley)

E*TRADE, now operating as part of Morgan Stanley, offers IPO/new-issue access through its standard process.

For SPCX:

  • Active ETRADE account required; per ETRADE, employees and all other account types are not eligible — only individual, joint, and IRA accounts qualify
  • Must complete E*TRADE’s Investor Profile questionnaire to determine eligibility for a given offering
  • Accounts must be fully funded before the offering window closes, per E*TRADE’s own guidance
  • Complete the IPO process through your E*TRADE account’s IPO Access section

E*TRADE’s participation in SPCX is notable because it connects to Morgan Stanley’s underwriting syndicate role — Morgan Stanley was one of the five active bookrunners alongside Goldman Sachs (lead-left), Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan.

Realistic Expectations

Let’s be direct about what is likely to happen.

The demand math, updated with actual figures: Retail investors submitted more than $70 billion in orders ahead of the June 12 debut — against a retail tranche that ended up in the low-20% range of the $75 billion raise (roughly $15-16.5 billion available). That $70B+ in requests against ~$16B available implies a fill rate in the ballpark of 20-25 cents per requested dollar for a typical account, though actual allocations vary by platform and request size. Many accounts received a small partial fill or nothing.

The practical outcome for most retail investors: Most who didn’t receive a full IPO allocation had to buy SPCX in the open market on June 12 at whatever price trading opened, not at the $135 IPO price. SPCX opened at $150 and closed its first day at $161.11, up ~19% — a smaller pop than Airbnb, which closed its 2020 debut roughly 113% above its IPO price.

The lock-up caveat: If you did receive an IPO allocation, be aware that Robinhood’s own IPO Access support page states that selling allocated shares within 30 days is considered “flipping” and “may be prevented from participating in IPO access for 60 days.” Check your specific platform’s terms, since policies vary.

What You’re Actually Buying

A full breakdown of SpaceX’s financials and the AI infrastructure angle is in our S-1 deep-dive and our SpaceXAI merger analysis. The short version for investors considering the IPO:

Buying SPCX is, in large part, a bet on Musk’s long-term vision for orbital AI infrastructure — and on his continued operational involvement. The super-voting structure means that bet is not separable from the man.

The Bottom Line

SpaceX targeted a 30% retail tranche and ultimately delivered a low-20% retail allocation — still roughly double the historical 10% norm, and historically unprecedented in dollar terms. The five platforms that offered SPCX access were Robinhood, Fidelity, Schwab (for clients with $100K+ eligible assets), SoFi, and E*TRADE.

Most retail investors did not receive a full allocation — many got none at all, given $70B+ in retail orders chasing roughly $15-16.5B in retail-tranche shares. SPCX closed its first trading day at $161.11, about 19% above the $135 IPO price, so the open market on June 12 was a more expensive entry point than the IPO price for those without an allocation — in hindsight, only briefly. By August 21, 2026 (see the timeline update above), SPCX had round-tripped back to roughly its $135 IPO price after a ~14% single-day drop to an all-time low of $108.27 on August 5 around the first insider lock-up expiration. Anyone who chased the June 12 open-market price at $150-176 was, at least as of this audit, underwater.

What is not in question: even at a reduced allocation, SpaceX’s retail structure was one of the most significant shifts in IPO access for individual investors among large-cap offerings. SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen’s promise — retail bigger than any IPO in history — held up in absolute dollar terms even after the allocation was trimmed.

Dates, allocation figures, and post-IPO price history verified against CNBC, Reuters (via Investing.com and other outlets), Fortune, CNN, Morningstar, The Motley Fool, and SpaceX’s own SEC S-1 filing as of this August 21, 2026 audit, which corrected a stale $1.75T pre-pricing valuation figure to the confirmed $1.77T pricing-day valuation and added the post-IPO price decline through the August 2026 lock-up expiration. Platform-specific requirements are subject to change; confirm with your brokerage. This is not financial advice, and SPCX’s price has moved substantially since the IPO — check a live quote before acting on any price figure in this piece.

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