- South Korean investors bought $834.6M in SpaceX shares on the first trading day.
- SpaceX shares climbed 49% after listing, lifting valuation to $2.65 trillion.
- Limited IPO access pushed Korean investors into heavy secondary market buying.
South Korean retail investors directed more than $800 million into SpaceX shares on the company’s first day of public trading, making it the most-purchased U.S. stock among local individual investors. The surge in buying came despite many investors being unable to access the company’s initial public offering, leading them to enter the market after trading began.
Data from the Korea Securities Depository showed that the scale of purchases placed SpaceX at the center of overseas stock activity among South Korean investors, quickly pushing it into the ranks of the most widely held U.S. stocks in the country.
Retail Investors Drive Heavy First-Day Demand
According to a Bloomberg report, South Korean retail investors purchased approximately $834.6 million worth of SpaceX shares while selling about $38.7 million on the first trading day.
The buying activity ranked among the largest single-day overseas stock purchases ever recorded by South Korean retail investors. It exceeded flows into other foreign-listed securities during the same session. The day’s second-largest overseas net purchase was the ProShares UltraPro QQQ exchange-traded fund, which attracted $24.9 million in net buying.
Based on SpaceX’s first-day closing price, local investors acquired roughly five million shares. The purchases were large enough to place the company among the top 30 most-held U.S. stocks by South Korean retail investors.
IPO Access Limitations Shifted Buying to Secondary Markets
SpaceX priced its initial public offering at $135 per share. The stock opened at $150, climbed to an intraday high of $176, and finished its first session at $161.11, representing a gain of 19.3% from the offering price.
South Korean retail investors did not have direct access to participate in the IPO. Unlike retail investors in Japan and Australia, local investors had to wait until shares began trading publicly before they could purchase the stock.
Rising Share Price Lifts Market Value
Investor demand continued after the first trading session. By Tuesday, SpaceX shares had surged to $192.68, marking a 49% increase from the IPO price.
The rally pushed the company’s market capitalization to approximately $2.65 trillion. Based on that valuation, SpaceX moved ahead of Amazon by roughly $8 billion and became the fifth-most valuable publicly listed company globally.
Interest in the company was also reflected through investment products tied to its shares. Korea Securities Depository data showed that a SpaceX-focused exchange-traded fund recorded net inflows of $301 million over the past month.
Related: SpaceX Surges 63% to Above $220 in Overnight Trading, Hits $2.9T Valuation
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