Elon Musk’s SpaceX hasn’t started trading yet, and it is already pulling cash out of the chip stocks retail traders spent the spring chasing.

The do-it-yourself crowd has been trimming semiconductor exposure and skipping dips elsewhere, according to Vanda Research.

Some analysts read the selling as retail gathering dry powder for the SpaceX debut, expected Friday.

Retail Hasn’t Sold Like This Since 2020

Non-professional traders sold individual stocks for three straight days through Wednesday, the first such streak since March 2020, Vanda’s data show. Monday brought the largest retail cash pull from single names since November 2023.

The selling has clustered in chipmakers and recent AI winners. Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) dropped 4.7% Wednesday, Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) shed 6.9% and Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) fell 5.1%.

The swap carries some irony. Traders are dumping cash-generating chip names to fund a company that booked a 4.9 billion net loss on 18.7 billion in 2025 revenue, weighed down by its xAI unit.

Why Retail Finally Has A Seat

Wall Street usually locks individual investors out of mega-debuts, but SpaceX is reserving up to 30% of its offering for retail, and Fidelity cut its account minimum to just 2,000 to widen access.

The scale is historic. SpaceX is seeking to raise as much as 75 billion, which would top Saudi Aramco’s 2019 listing as the largest IPO ever and helps explain why it is draining liquidity elsewhere.

Even crypto is catching the crossfire: Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) Foundation President Lily Liu noted recent Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) weakness is likely driven by capital rotating out of crypto to chase high-growth mega-deals like SpaceX.

Prediction Markets See A Friday Debut

Polymarket traders think there is a 65% chance SpaceX closes above $2 Trillion on day 1, with a 25% chance of above $2.4 Trillion.

Nasdaq bent its rules to admit SpaceX to the Nasdaq-100 after just 15 trading days, forcing Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) and other passive funds to buy in within weeks.

The S&P 500 declined to waive its profitability rule, delaying the larger wave of passive buying until 2027 at the earliest.

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