After SpaceX’s $2 trillion debut, investors are eyeing Anthropic and OpenAI. Market experts share how to play the next trillion-dollar IPO

One of financial advisor Jeff Barnett’s clients called him when SpaceX went public on June 12. Had Barnett bought any shares for the portfolio? He had not—SpaceX came nowhere close to the client’s preset criteria on valuation and governance.

The client listened, then asked Barnett, “Can we just buy 10 shares?” Barnett got it done. He likens it to buying a lottery ticket when the jackpot hits $1 billion. You know the odds are slim, but a small bet buys a share of the buzz—and scratches that deep down what-if itch—without jeopardizing your portfolio.

The fear of missing an on-ramp to the next generation of world-changing companies is the most expensive force in the market this summer. Investors call this trio the new Magnificent Three. SpaceX, Anthropic, and eventually OpenAI are the IPOs people are dreaming about, especially if they feel the ache of missing out on Nvidia: $10,000 in Nvidia a decade ago would be worth roughly $1.8 million today. When SpaceX went public, more than 500 million shares traded—marking the second-heaviest first-day IPO volume in Nasdaq history, behind only Facebook’s 580 million in 2012.

But here’s the thing. If you missed day one, all is not lost. And in fact, history shows you may have better opportunities to buy in the future.

The typical (median) IPO is down about 26% three years after its first-day closing price, and some of the initial winners aren’t the ones that become household names. Familiar with the biotechs Abgenix or Enzo Biochem? They had stellar debuts, up 2,071% and 2,445% from their first-day close, data from IPO expert Jay Ritter shows. However, they eventually cooled while it was the patient investors that backed........

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