SpaceX Surges Nearly 20% in After-Hours Trading, Market Cap Exceeds $3 Trillion Surpassing Microsoft
Alina Collins
SpaceX jumped nearly 20% in after-hours trading, pushing its market cap past $3 trillion to overtake Microsoft; the stock added roughly $650 billion in a single day as retail money piled into one name — whether the squeeze holds now hinges on options trading going live tonight.
$650 billion in one day — what happened?
SpaceX already rose about 20% during regular hours, adding over $400 billion in market cap. After hours, it climbed another ~20% to around $230, tacking on roughly $250 billion more.
Combined, the stock gained about $650 billion in a single day. This means → SpaceX "created" more market value in one session than the entire market cap of most S&P 500 members.
Its after-hours valuation passed Apple (about $2.65 trillion), then Microsoft (about $2.97 trillion), placing it among the world's most valuable companies.
If these gains hold into Tuesday's open, SpaceX would rank fourth in the U.S., behind only Nvidia, Google, and Apple.
Are retail investors all-in on one stock?
Vanda Track, a retail-flow tracker, reports that SpaceX topped the retail buy list for two consecutive sessions.
On Monday alone, retail investors net-bought $93.8 million of SpaceX — roughly 73% of total single-stock retail net buying that day. In plain terms = for every $100 retail spent on stocks, $73 went to SpaceX.
Over the past two trading days, retail net inflows into SpaceX nearly matched total U.S. equity retail net buying for the entire prior week. This reflects an extreme concentration of retail capital into a single name, not a broad market rally.
SpaceX has not triggered a broad retail buying frenzy — investors are funneling capital into this single stock while staying relatively cautious elsewhere.
Vanda Track
Retail-flow tracking firm
(June 16, 2026, retail flow report)
Why is SpaceX so squeeze-prone?
Analysts note that SpaceX's low free float — few shares available for open-market trading — creates natural conditions for brief liquidity squeezes. In plain terms = a small supply of tradable shares means concentrated buying can push the price up fast.
That makes SpaceX an ideal vehicle for out-of-the-money call options (contracts betting on a large price jump) to amplify upward moves.
SpaceX options begin trading tonight at the U.S. open. Some market participants believe this could trigger a fresh round of gamma squeezing — a chain reaction where option sellers are forced to buy the underlying stock to hedge, driving the price even higher.
Can this rally last?
Some forecasts suggest the stock could reach $400, which would give SpaceX a market cap exceeding Nvidia's.
But Vanda Track also flagged that leveraged bearish ETFs appeared on the retail hot-buy list. This means → some investors are hedging downside risk even as they chase the rally — sentiment has not turned uniformly bullish.
Semiconductor names showed tentative inflows: MRVL, MU, SNDK, and AVGO all posted small net buying. This reflects capital starting to trickle back into other sectors, not just SpaceX.
The actual flow of funds once the options market opens will be the decisive test of whether this squeeze can sustain itself.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.