June 14, 2026

Dow Jones Edges Higher While SpaceX Steals the Show With $2 Trillion Valuation

Key Points

SpaceX opened at $168 per share, a 22% jump from its $135 IPO price, pushing its market cap above $2.2 trillion.
Amazon and Microsoft fell slightly on above-average volume, suggesting investors sold some of their existing tech holdings to fund SpaceX purchases.
Oil prices fell more than 2% as investors grew hopeful that U.S.-Iran peace talks could reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
10 stocks we like better than Space Exploration Technologies ›

Wall Street had one job Friday: watch Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX) take off.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) rose 0.4% by noon ET, while the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) added 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) index dipped 0.1%, weighed down by some familiar names making room for the new kid on the block.

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The indexes bounced around in the morning but never strayed far from flat. The real action was elsewhere. And even a new $2 trillion player rising 23% (as of this writing at 12:19 p.m. ET — probably some other figure by the time you read this) wasn’t able to lift a Nasdaq index dominated by titans in the $4 trillion club.

^IXIC data by YCharts

All eyes on SpaceX

Friday’s Wall Street feels a lot like rocket-launch days at Cape Canaveral. Everything stood still, awaiting the majestic launch of a massive spaceship. None of the top indexes moved more than 1.2% in the morning, and they all trended back toward breakeven around noon.

SpaceX, for its part, delivered the drama. The official launch price was $135 per share, but trading opened at $168. That’s a 22% jump, maxing out at a $2.2 trillion market cap. Elon Musk’s combined space exploration and AI business is worth more than Walmart (NASDAQ: WMT) and Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA) (NYSE: BRKB) combined, roughly matching the gross domestic products of Canada or Brazil.

It’s the largest public offering ever, and Friday’s pop suggests investors wanted in even at that lofty price. And the SpaceX IPO shuffled how deep-pocketed investors allocate their funds today. Mega-caps Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) are down modestly on above-average trading volume, slicing $55 billion and $21 billion off their market caps, respectively. I can’t prove this thesis, but I expect a significant portion of these tech titan investments simply moved over to SpaceX.

SpaceX’s successful debut bodes well for OpenAI and Anthropic, both of which are expected to go public later this year. If investors will pay $2 trillion for rockets and Starlink, they’ll probably show up for chatbots and AI security systems, too.

See also <!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> <title>Exploring the Lucrative Opportunities in Mid-Tier Gold Mining</title></head><body><h2>The Rise of Mid-Tier Gold Miners</h2><p>As the current state of the gold market unfolds, mid-tier and junior miners have emerged as captivating prospects for investors seeking substantial returns. In the wake of the latest quarterly results, these smaller gold producers have showcased exceptional performance, underpinned by escalating production rates, reduced mining costs, and a buoyant gold price environment. The resultant profitability surge signals a promising future for mid-tier miners, poised to shed their undervalued status.</p><h2>Decoding Gold-Stock Tiers</h2><p>The realm of gold mining is stratified into distinct tiers based on annual production capacities, ranging from small juniors with modest outputs to huge super-majors operating on a colossal scale. The VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:) stands out as a key player, predominantly housing mid-tier gold stocks despite its misleading nomenclature. The delineation between juniors and mid-tiers holds essential implications for investment strategies, with mid-tiers offering a blend of substantial production, growth potential, and market capitalization conducive to significant gains.</p><h2>The Performance Paradox</h2><p>The intrinsic leverage of gold stocks in relation to the underlying gold prices manifests as a double-edged sword for investors. Recent events have underscored this phenomenon, wherein the VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:) exhibited a lackluster response to gold price fluctuations. While gold staged notable rallies, the ETF's performance lagged behind, failing to magnify the upswings in the precious metal market. This disconnect unveils the intricacies of investing in gold stocks, which demand superior performance to counterbalance inherent risks.</p><h2>Unveiling Q4 Performances</h2><p>Amidst the quarterly performance evaluations of the top 25 constituents of GDXJ, pivotal insights into mid-tier gold miners' operational and financial standings emerge. The analysis, chronicling production rates, cost dynamics, revenue streams, and earnings, showcases a remarkable Q4 showing characterized by production growth, cost efficiencies, and robust earnings. The synergy of these factors culminated in substantial profit escalations, cementing the appeal of mid-tiers and juniors in the gold mining sector.</p><h2>Fueling Growth Through Production</h2><p>Production escalation stands as the linchpin of success for gold miners, nurturing a virtuous cycle of growth by bolstering cash flows and profitability. The recent performance of the GDXJ-top-25 gold miners, heralding a seventh consecutive quarter of output growth, exemplifies this paradigm. With a collective production rise of 2.8% year-over-year in Q4'23, these mid-tiers outpaced their larger counterparts, signaling a robust trajectory of growth and resilience amidst market fluctuations.</p><h2>Setting the Stage for Success</h2><p>Amidst the shifting landscapes of gold mining, mid-tier miners like Equinox Gold (NYSE:) epitomize the industry's metamorphosis. Equipped with expansion plans to bolster their standing within the GDXJ ranks, these mid-tiers harness innovation and strategic acquisitions to propel growth and solidify their market presence. The narrative unfolding in the gold mining sector underscores the strategic allure of mid-tier and junior miners, poised to capitalize on the sector's burgeoning potential.</p></body></html><html> <head> <title>Insights into the Gold Mining Industry</title> </head> <body> Exploring the Golden Opportunities in the Mining Sector

Iran deal: maybe, maybe not

It took me this long to get into today’s geopolitics, because the SpaceX launch seems to have dampened everything else. Again, none of the major indexes is making a big move, and their top components neither soared nor crashed, either.

But there’s still plenty of news to share from the Persian Gulf. Oil prices have bounced around today, with the United States Oil Fund (NYSEMKT: USO) currently down 2.1%. Some sources say that the Iranian conflict should end soon, though the Trump administration condemns Iran’s recent drone strikes. Conflicting media reports make it difficult to guess what the final peace agreement will look like, or when it will be signed. But investors see hope in the ongoing talks, so oil prices are trending down.

Two people in business suits shaking hands over a table full of printed data and diagrams.

Image source: Getty Images.

Friday was SpaceX day and the normally headline-minting market indexes were more of an afterthought. The rotation out of Microsoft and Amazon is worth watching. If SpaceX’s gain is just recycled Magnificent Seven money, the net effect on portfolios is a wash. If it’s fresh capital entering the market, that’s a different story.

SpaceX just proved that investors will show up for a $1.77 trillion debut and bid it even higher. OpenAI and Anthropic are taking notes.

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Anders Bylund has positions in Amazon and Walmart. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, Microsoft, and Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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