UK retail platforms see SpaceX IPO demand surge ahead of market debut

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UK SpaceX IPO demand surge

Highlights

Over 35,000 UK retail investors registered interest in the SpaceX IPO via Hargreaves Lansdown ahead of the June 12 market debut, with $86 billion targeted at a $1.78 trillion valuation.
Baillie Gifford US Growth, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, and Schiehallion fund saw premiums to net asset value as optimism around SpaceX’s listing drove UK investment trusts higher.
University of Florida research finds an average 19.1% first-day return for IPOs since 2001, fueling expectations for SpaceX gains, but analysts warn of potential post-listing selling pressure.

Retail order books build before June 12 listing

As first reported by the Financial Times, more than 35,000 small investors have already registered interest in the SpaceX initial public offering through Hargreaves Lansdown, one of eight intermediaries authorised to sell shares before the company starts trading on the U.S. stock market next week.

Anna Macdonald, investment strategy director at Hargreaves Lansdown, says interest before the offer opens reflects both the attention the company attracts and the scale of the IPO, which could become the biggest in history. SpaceX is seeking to raise as much as $86 billion at a valuation of $1.78 trillion, with Elon Musk aiming to reserve a quarter of the float for individual investors.

AJ Bell, CMC Markets, eToro, Freetrade, Interactive Brokers, Interactive Investor, Revolut and Hargreaves Lansdown are all authorised to distribute shares to retail investors during the bookbuilding process. Charlie Musson, chief product officer at AJ Bell, says private investors can now participate more easily in a listing that would once have been dominated by institutional buyers.

It remains unclear how many shares will be allocated to the UK retail offer, which Marex Financial’s Winterflood brokerage is coordinating. That leaves open the possibility of a scaleback if demand exceeds supply, with Macdonald saying any reduction would apply across applicants rather than on a first come, first served basis.

Investment trusts and IPO market sentiment gain support

Excitement around the listing is also lifting UK investment trusts that already hold SpaceX shares. Baillie Gifford US Growth, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Edinburgh Worldwide have moved to premiums over net asset value, an unusual shift for the sector, while the private-assets-focused Schiehallion fund trades at a 16.5% premium.

According to the Association of Investment Companies, that momentum helps pull the average investment trust discount back to single digits for the first time in nearly four years. The response also reflects a broader belief that new listings can deliver strong first-day gains, even though such outcomes are never guaranteed.

Analysis by Jay Ritter of the University of Florida covering 2,824 IPOs between 2001 and 2025 finds an average first-day return of 19.1%. Morningstar analysts are optimistic about an early bounce in SpaceX shares, especially after some major indices changed their rules to allow the company to join soon after listing, but they warn that selling pressure could weigh on the stock in the months after the IPO.

SpaceX is expected to begin trading on June 12, with the final IPO price due to be set the previous day. AJ Bell has set a 7 p.m. Wednesday application deadline, while Hargreaves Lansdown is accepting applications until 11:59 p.m. on the same day; further large technology listings may follow, with Anthropic filing for an IPO this week and OpenAI expected to move in the near term.

Our earlier report on SpaceX’s record-sized IPO preparations outlined how the blockbuster listing was set to test investor confidence amid a tech-led market rally, with attention on pricing on June 11 and trading expected to begin June 12. We also noted that SpaceX’s financial results and potential retail demand were key focus points, while upcoming inflation data and major tech earnings added another layer of pressure for markets assessing risk appetite.

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