SpaceX will launch its IPO on Nasdaq in New York City on June 12, 2026.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
There is nothing like the original.
SpaceX “Proxy stocks,” whose options volume boomed ahead of Friday’s historic IPO, are giving up their gains. Some appear to have more potential for recovery than others.
Shares of EchoStar, the Colorado-based networking company that owns an estimated 3% of SpaceX stock, reversed, falling 14%. AST Spacemobile, whose satellites are expected to launch on a SpaceX rocket next week, saw shares fall nearly 13%. Shares of Virgin Galactic Holdings erased Thursday’s big gain with a 34% loss.
Options traders seem unfazed: Calls outnumber puts for all three names, with AST being the most popular, trading more than 250,000 contracts at a premium of more than $60 million. On Friday morning, more than twice as many calls were bought as puts.
“There is a lot of short-term call buying on these names to take a long position on SpaceX,” Danny Kirsch, head of options trading at Piper Sandler, said by phone. “I have no doubt some of this is due to retail demand, but there is definitely institutional demand for SATS.”
SATS is the ticker symbol for EchoStar, whose shares rose another 5% in early trading on Friday. AST SpaceMobile shares were also trading higher at the time.
According to Cory Johnson, chief market strategist at San Francisco-based Epistrophy Capital Research, concurrent demand for exchange-traded funds targeting the space category is also creating a supply squeeze that is helping to keep prices high for the proxy plays.
ETFs like that Obtain a space ETF and the Defiance Drone and Modern Warfare ETF both own shares in ASTS. Procure Space, trading as UFO, is up 38% in 2026, while Defiance, trading as JEDI, is up around 33%.
“People who can’t buy SpaceX or thought they couldn’t get it fast enough put money into these ETFs, and that’s why these funds have to buy shares of AST, EchoStar, Spire, etc.,” Johnson said in a phone call. “It has nothing to do with the quality of these companies, the demand for their products or their cash flows.”
One thing seems clear: demand for SpaceX options, which begin trading on Tuesday, is likely to be nothing short of astronomical. The IPO was priced at $135 per share, a sweet spot for retail traders who don’t mind paying expensive premiums for nominally low-valued shares.
Shares of EchoStar and AST, which closed Thursday at $128.13 and $97.56, respectively, are trading with implied volatilities of 91 and 126, respectively.
“SpaceX has the potential to become one of the most actively traded options names among retail investors,” Anthony Denier, group president and U.S. CEO of Webull, said in an email. “The combination of a likely high stock price, significant volatility and immense public interest creates an ideal environment for options trading. If borrowable stocks become scarce or expensive, put options could offer investors a more practical way to express a bearish view than shorting the stock outright.”
Tesla, the original Musk cult stock, is one of the most actively traded names among retail options traders.
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