SpaceX Options Debut Shatters Records as Post-IPO Frenzy Briefly Pushes Valuation to $2.8 Trillion

SpaceX's first week as a publicly traded entity has rewritten the financial record books, culminating in an options trading debut that triggered a massive, volatility-fueled surge in its stock price. Following its historic June 12 initial public offering—which ultimately raised $85.7 billion after underwriters exercised their options—the aerospace giant opened its derivatives market on Tuesday to unprecedented retail and institutional demand.[1][2]

Within the first hour of trading, more than half a million options contracts changed hands. By the end of the session, that figure eclipsed one million, shattering the previous debut record of 340,000 set by Facebook 14 years ago. The overwhelming majority of this volume was concentrated in bullish call options, reflecting intense speculation that the newly minted stock would continue its upward trajectory.[1][3]

This tidal wave of call buying forced options dealers—who take the other side of the trades—to aggressively purchase the underlying stock to hedge their own risk. This mechanical buying loop, known as a gamma squeeze, propelled SpaceX shares to an intraday high of $225.64 on Tuesday, up significantly from its $135 IPO price.[4][5]

At its peak, the rally pushed SpaceX's market capitalization to roughly $2.8 trillion, allowing it to briefly leapfrog Amazon and Microsoft to become one of the most valuable publicly traded companies in the world. Trading volume in the underlying shares was equally staggering, with $52 billion worth of stock changing hands—the highest turnover among all large U.S.-listed firms that day.[5]

Adding fuel to the speculative fire, SpaceX announced a massive foray into artificial intelligence on Tuesday, agreeing to acquire Anysphere—the holding company of the popular AI code editor Cursor—in an all-stock deal valued at $60 billion. While some analysts applauded the move as a necessary expansion into AI infrastructure, the sheer size of the equity dilution introduced extreme structural pricing anomalies into the options market.[2][8]

The options market immediately priced in historic levels of uncertainty. Short-term contracts expiring within days saw implied volatility explode past 160%, creating an extreme "backwardation" where near-term risk was priced significantly higher than long-term leaps. Market makers demanded historic premiums to facilitate trades, though liquidity remained robust around the at-the-money strike prices.[4]

The frantic buying has left fundamental analysts sounding the alarm over a "fear of missing out" (FOMO) mentality. Based on consensus estimates, SpaceX is currently trading at 39.2 times its projected 2027 sales—making it vastly more expensive than any stock currently in the S&P 500 index. For comparison, Tesla, often cited for its premium valuation, trades at roughly 12.6 times forward sales.[2]

Reality began to set in by mid-week. After peaking on Tuesday, the stock pulled back roughly 5% on Wednesday and continued to slide on Thursday, settling near $191. The reversal wiped out hundreds of billions in paper valuation and left the average post-IPO retail buyer slightly underwater, as the volume-weighted average price hovered just below $180.[2][7][8]

Despite the mid-week cooling, the financial maneuvering is far from over. Wall Street bankers are reportedly preparing to meet with investors as early as next week to discuss a potential SpaceX bond offering of at least $20 billion. As the initial euphoria settles, the market is bracing for continued turbulence, with options pricing suggesting that SpaceX will remain one of the most heavily traded and volatile assets of the year.[1][4][6]