##  [# SpaceX Soared After Its IPO. The ETFs That Held It Didn't](/sections/features/spacex-soared-after-its-ipo-etfs-held-it-didnt) 

 

# SpaceX Soared After Its IPO. The ETFs That Held It Didn't

 

 

The funds that gave investors a backdoor into SpaceX mostly couldn't capture its debut pop.



 

 

 

 

 [![sumit](/sites/default/files/styles/author_image_icon/public/2023-03/Sumit_0.png?itok=SO-7S5SH "sumit")](/authors/sumit-roy) 

[By Sumit Roy ](/authors/sumit-roy)

 Jun 12, 2026

 Edited by: ETF.com Staff

 

 

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ETFs that held SpaceX before its IPO barely benefited as shares of Elon Musk's space company surged on their first day of trading—with one exception.  
  
SpaceX gained 19% in its debut, but the [**Tema Space Innovators ETF (NASA)**](/nasa) dropped 9.4%. SpaceX represented 5.5% of NASA's portfolio as of June 11, according to the issuer's website, and total assets under management sat at $2.9 billion, a massive figure for a fund that launched as recently as March 30.   
  
Recent inflows had diluted the fund’s SpaceX weight to about half of what it was, since the fund couldn't add SpaceX exposure ahead of the IPO and the new money went into its other public holdings instead.  
  
Those same holdings plunged on Friday as SpaceX sucked the oxygen out of the room. A lot of space stocks had run up hard ahead of the IPO, and now they're selling off as the giant of the sector becomes publicly tradable.  
  
To be fair, NASA is still up 27% since its March 30 debut, an enviable gain for 2.5 months, even if it's down from the 66% it was showing at its May high. But the vast majority of that came from other space stocks, not from SpaceX.

## Other ETFs That Hold SpaceX

NASA wasn't the only fund that held pre-IPO SpaceX and failed to capitalize on the pop. The [**ERShares Private-Public Crossover ETF (XOVR)**](/xovr), the first ETF to offer SpaceX exposure, fell 0.7% on the day despite holding just under 14% of its portfolio in the stock.   
  
XOVR is down 0.9% year to date, sharply underperforming the S&amp;P 500's 9.1% gain over the same stretch. Since it first added SpaceX back in December 2024, the fund is up 6.9%, against 25% for the S&amp;P.  
  
The [**KraneShares Public-Private AI &amp; Technology ETF (AGIX)**](/agix) was up 0.7% on the day. With only a 2.5% SpaceX weighting going into the IPO, the muted reaction isn't much of a surprise.  
  
The fund that did the best was the [**Baron First Principles ETF (RONB)**](/ronb), the flagship ETF of well-known investor Ron Baron, a big backer of Musk's companies.   
  
It traded up 3.4% on Friday on the strength of a 16.5% SpaceX position as of June 11, up sharply from the 2.5% position the issuer's website was showing a day earlier.

 
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## What It Means

The fact that three of the four funds were flat to down while SpaceX soared suggests two things. First, an ETF generally isn't the best way to capture a move in a single stock. Outside of single-stock ETFs, funds are built to diversify, so a move in any one name gets watered down. NASA is the clearest example, with its other holdings tanking by more than enough to offset the SpaceX gain.  
  
Second, with private exposure it isn't always obvious what valuation you're getting that stake at, or what fees and structure sit underneath it, especially when a fund holds its position through an SPV. XOVR bought SpaceX early and should, in theory, have cleaned up. Instead, it has performed abysmally.  
  
RONB, the only one of these funds that held a direct, sizable stake in SpaceX, benefited the most, which underscores how much the size and structure of the position matters.



 

 

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 [ Sumit Roy Senior ETF Analyst ](/authors/sumit-roy) 

 

 

  Sumit Roy is the senior ETF analyst for etf.com and author of (Don't) Invest Like a Pro. He creates a variety of content for the platform, including…   [View Bio](/authors/sumit-roy)

 



 

 


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