SpaceX (SPAX.PVT) isn’t public yet, but Wall Street is already preparing for blastoff. The rocket company has confidentially filed IPO paperwork but has not listed yet. Its private market price has surged nearly 700% since 2023, giving it an estimated valuation near $1.5 trillion — enough to make the ETF world a reason to move before the listing. Todd Sohn, chief ETF strategist at Strategas, noted that nine space-related ETFs have been launched or filed over the past three months. One existing space ETF index is also changing its rules so that a company like SpaceX could become eligible as early as the close of its first day of exchange trading after an IPO. The race isn’t only about rockets. It’s also about how quickly Wall Street can package private market giants once they hit public markets. Historically, new listings had to wait before joining major indexes. The Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) used to require three full months of trading, while S&P 500 (^GSPC) eligibility required a full year. That clock is changing. Nasdaq has adopted a fast-entry path that could allow a massive new listing into the Nasdaq 100 after only 15 trading days if it clears the size test. The S&P 500 is moving more slowly, with S&P Dow Jones Indices considering a shorter six-month waiting period for some megacap IPOs. Faster index entry could turn SpaceX from a hard-to-access private market name into a forced holding for index-tracking funds much sooner than IPO investors are used to. For passive investors, that is a major shift. The window between IPO hype and benchmark demand gets shorter — and so does the time a new stock has to prove itself before it lands in portfolios by default. SpaceX could list as soon as June, with the IPO reportedly targeting a valuation of around $1.75 trillion and a raise as large as $75 billion. SpaceX could list as soon as June, with the IPO reportedly targeting a valuation of around $1.75 trillion and a raise as large as $75 billion. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration) · Reuters / REUTERS Jared Blikre is the global markets and data editor for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X at @SPYJared or email him at jaredblikre@yahooinc.com. Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
