On June 13 (the first day of SpaceX’s IPO), ARK Invest’s ETFs collectively bought approximately 3.29 million shares of SpaceX (SPCX). Through a private equity allocation via the ARK Venture Fund, about $443 million was invested. SpaceX listed at $135 per share and closed that day at $160.95, up 19.2%.
IPO First-Day Confirmed Trade Data: Portfolio Weighting by Each ETF
According to ARK Invest’s published confirmed trade records:
ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK): Bought 1,690,839 shares; SpaceX accounts for 3.28% of the ARKK portfolio; ARKK is down slightly year-to-date
ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ): Bought 736,442 shares; accounts for 2.65% of the portfolio; ARKQ is up 12.8% year-to-date
ARK Space Exploration & Defense ETF (ARKX): Closing balance held 538,341 shares; accounts for 6.89% of the portfolio
ARK Venture Fund: SpaceX’s allocation ratio rose to 11.38% (fund management assets of about $1.035 billion)
Same-Day Sale Records: Position Reduction Confirmed for AMD, Roku, and Others
According to ARK Invest’s confirmed sell data for the same day:
AMD (AMD): Sold approximately 80,536 shares; ARK has reduced its holdings continuously over the past weeks, stemming from ongoing rebalancing after the AMD stock price surged in May
Roku (ROKU): Sold 98,835 shares, selling for the second consecutive day, worth at least $11.5 million
Baidu (BIDU): Sold 67,420 shares, about $700,000
Others: The same day also saw reductions in Tesla (TSLA), CrowdStrike (CRWD), and Cloudflare (NET)
In addition, within the same week ahead of SpaceX’s IPO, ARK Invest had also further dumped about $280 million worth of stock.
ARK’s Confirmed Timeline for Building a SpaceX Position: Entry via Private Placement in 2023
Based on ARK Invest’s public documents and statements, the confirmed investment timeline is: ARK Venture Fund began building its SpaceX position through the private market in 2023, when the valuation was under $200 billion. By 2024, SpaceX’s valuation rose to $350 billion. The target valuation for the IPO was $1.75 trillion (per the SEC S-1 filing).
This allocation of 3.29 million shares was obtained through ARK Venture Fund’s private equity channel, essentially converting follow-on from the private placement holdings already established prior to the IPO. Before SpaceX listed, SpaceX was already ARK Venture Fund’s largest holding (about 11.4% of assets under management). ARK also indirectly held SpaceX exposure through its investment in X, the community media platform owned by Musk (after xAI acquired X, it merged with SpaceX earlier this year).
ARK’s Internal Valuations and Target Prices (ARK Public Statements, Not Market Consensus)
The following are internal valuations ARK Invest publicly shared. They are part of ARK’s own research and assessment, not confirmed market or regulatory data:
SpaceX (ARK Internal Model, 2030 Target): Base case enterprise value around $2.5 trillion; optimistic case $3.1 trillion; pessimistic case $1.7 trillion (similar to the IPO valuation).
Tesla (TSLA): ARK Invest currently holds about 3.3 million shares of Tesla through four ETFs, valued at about $1.32 billion. ARK set a 2029 target price of $2,600 for Tesla (vs. Friday’s close of $406.43, implying an upside of about 540%).
FAQ
Does ARK Invest buy SPCX through the public market, or via other means?
According to TradingKey coverage, ARK’s holdings of about 3.29 million shares of SpaceX were obtained through a private equity allocation via ARK Venture Fund, not via public market competitive bidding. ARK Venture Fund had already built a position while SpaceX was still a private company, and this allocation is a subsequent conversion of its private placement holdings.
Why is the SpaceX weighting different among ARK’s three publicly traded ETFs?
According to ARK Invest’s confirmed data: SpaceX makes up 3.28% in ARKK (1.69 million shares); 2.65% in ARKQ (736,000 shares); and 6.89% in ARKX (538,000 shares). ARKX has the highest weighting, consistent with its focus on space and defense themes. ARKK is ARK’s largest ETF by scale, with the most shares purchased, but a lower weighting.
Why did ARK both buy a large amount of SPCX and sell multiple stocks on the same day?
Based on ARK’s trade records, the sales of AMD, Roku, Tesla, and others were to raise funds to complete the large-scale purchase of about $443 million worth of SPCX. ARK had already additionally offloaded about $280 million in stock in the week around the eve of the SpaceX IPO, indicating that this capital reshuffling involved planned preparation rather than a passive response.
