June 2026 Markets Report
SpaceX Goes Public
On June 12, shares of aerospace company, SpaceX (SPCX), went public on the Nasdaq exchange at an initial public offering (IPO) valuation of ~$1.8 trillion, making it the largest IPO in history.
Shares were initially offered at $135/share. However, volatility quickly picked up: in the days following, shares reached upwards of ~$200/share.
Orders for the highly anticipated IPO were made up of institutional and retail investors, with brokerages reporting ~$70 billion in retail investor requests.
However, following the footsteps of many of its IPO peers, the initial momentum behind SPCX was not limitless. Towards late-June, shares staggered, at one point reaching a low of $104.83/share on August 3rd.
As of August 26th, roughly two months after the initial IPO, shares of SPCX are currently sitting at ~140/share – not far from the initial offering price. More is to be seen from SpaceX in the coming months as investors debate its current valuation.
SpaceX’s insider lockup periods are staggered, with the initial unlock set as August 6th and the final unlock – pertaining to CEO Elon Musk’s shares – set as June 12, 2027.
EXTRA: What is a “Lock Up Period”
A lockup period is an agreement that prevents company insiders from selling their shares immediately after an initial public offering. Insiders must instead wait for a duration of time – often 90 to 180 days – after the initial public offering before they can sell shares.
This agreement, while not explicitly mandated by the SEC, is observed by most companies that do go public. It reassures post-IPO investors that they will not be used a early exit liquidity.
European Central Bank Hikes Interest Rates
On June 11, the European Central Bank (ECB) shifted their monetary policy, raising main interest rates by 25 basis points, affecting countries using the euro as their official currency.
Deposit Facility Rate (like the US Interest on Reserves): 2.00% –> 2.25%
Main Refinancing Operations (like the US Fed Funds Rate): 2.15% –> 2.40%
Marginal Lending Facility (like the US Discount Rate): 2.40% –> 2.65%
This rate hike was a reversal from the ECB’s prolonged pattern of rate holds and cuts – the last time a rate hike occurred was September 2023.
But why did the ECB choose to hike rates now? Volatility in the energy markets, driving renewed inflation concerns, ultimately led to Eurozone inflation expectations for 2026 to jump from 2.6% –> 3.0%.
EXTRA: How inflation and interest rates are connected
The two are very closely intertwined. High inflation is caused by and promotes increased spending, since money loses purchasing power. To combat high inflation, central banks make borrowing more expensive – reducing total spending – by raising interest rates. [and vice versa]
While the ECB opted to hike rates, the US Federal Reserve voted (just six days later) to keep interest rates steady at the 3.50%-3.75% range.
Hewlett Packard Earnings
For context, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is a technology company that provides other enterprises IT hardware and server infrastructure. You may have also heard of the company HP: HPE and HP were once part of the same parent company, Hewlett-Packard, before they were spun off in 2015.
Amidst the AI boom and resulting infrastructure expansions across the sector, HPE blew past analyst estimates in their Q2 2026 earnings report, released on June 1st.
* Images below are sourced from Google Finance 
In their Q2 earnings call, HPE executives highlighted the growing backlog of AI systems orders, the boost from their recent Juniper Networks acquisition, and raised Q3 guidance.
EXTRA: What is a “Backlog”
Currently, many companies are talking backlogs during their earning calls – Oracle, Nvidia, Western Digital, to name a few. It is the value of accumulated unfulfilled orders. Generally, backlogs are viewed favorable by investors, since they demonstrate high demand for the company’s products and provide future revenue predictability. However, they can sometimes be viewed unfavorably if the backlog’s root cause is a labor shortage, delay, etc.
Acknowledgement and fixes.
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