This article first appeared on GuruFocus .
South Korean retail investors snapped up almost $800 million of SpaceX ( NASDAQ:SPCX ) shares on the stock's first day of trading, highlighting strong demand for Elon Musk's company after local investors had no direct access to the IPO. Korea Securities Depository data showed net purchases reached $796 million on Friday, making SpaceX the most popular U.S. stock among more than 14 million individual investors in South Korea. The single-day total was larger than the cumulative net purchases of any other U.S. equity over the past three months.
Global investor appetite for SpaceX shares has remained strong, pushing the stock 49% higher since its listing. The rally has lifted SpaceX's market value to $2.65 trillion, roughly $8 billion above Amazon. South Korean retail investors were unable to buy directly into the IPO, unlike investors in Japan and Australia, while Mirae Asset Securities, one of the IPO underwriters, had offered access to select investors but ultimately received no shares.
The failed allocation has prompted South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service to expand its inspection of Mirae Asset Securities. The demand also reflects Musk's long-running appeal in South Korea, where retail investors held $25.9 billion worth of Tesla ( NASDAQ:TSLA ) as of June 15. A SpaceX-focused exchange-traded fund drew $301 million in net inflows over the past month, while Micron Technology ( NASDAQ:MU ) and a Nasdaq 100 ETF ranked second and third among Korean retail investors over the three months through June 12, attracting $748 million and $696 million, respectively.
