Wedbush analyst Dan Ives on Sunday called the public debut of Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
In a market commentary shared by an X commentator and subsequently reposted by Ives, the prominent analyst addressed widespread investor anxieties that the space giant's public listing would "suck oxygen out of the tech and AI trade."
While acknowledging that recent weakness in chip stocks was tied to the IPO's immediate ripple effect, Ives dismissed the pessimistic narrative following Friday's opening bell.
"We view the IPO of SpaceX coming out of the gates on Friday as a 'Goldilocks outcome' for the tech sector as the reception of the pricing of SpaceX was solid and importantly the rest of the tech sector held up well," Ives wrote. He added that the solid debut disproved weeks of "bear noise and fears."
Green Light For AI Debuts
The market implications extend far beyond space exploration. According to Wedbush, investor appetite for the capital-intensive SpaceX venture serves as a green light for Silicon Valley's most valued private AI firms.
"We also believe the positive SpaceX debut and investor reception is a good sign for OpenAI and Anthropic as both companies likely head down the IPO path before year-end," Ives noted, characterizing the listing as an "important watershed moment" driving capital into the AI flywheel.
The Next Monetization Phase
With massive capital flowing into tech stalwarts, Ives maintains that the broader tech and chip trades have "a lot of room to go higher" into the second half of 2026, insisting the AI spending cycle is only in the "3rd inning."
As frontier models commoditize, Wedbush projects that value will shift to the data orchestration layer, highlighting Palantir Technologies Inc.
SPCX Lists On Bourses
While SPCX was 6.31% higher in premarket on Monday, its shares opened at $150.00 apiece on Friday, representing am 11.1% premium to the IPO price of $135. It closed its regular trading session 19.3% higher at $160.95.
The stock traded in a wide range of $149.34 to $176.52 on its listing day, pushing its overall market valuation past the $2 trillion mark.
