New York, May 27, 2026, 04:46 EDT
SoFi Technologies shares hovered close to $16 going into Wednesday’s U.S. trading, after gaining 2.3% on Tuesday. The fintech lender and brokerage app is at the center of a new retail-trading buzz on the prospect of SpaceX’s IPO. SoFi last changed hands at $15.98, putting its market cap near $22 billion.
Nasdaq’s regular session was still closed at the time. Premarket trading on Nasdaq runs from 4:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Eastern. The exchange’s 2026 holiday calendar listed U.S. markets as shut for Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, not Wednesday.
Why this is coming up now: SpaceX’s IPO could put SoFi’s investing unit in the spotlight. The platform is better known for lending and deposits, but SoFi could let retail investors buy into the SpaceX deal, like rival Robinhood. That means SoFi goes up head-to-head with a bigger brokerage on a splashy IPO.
SoFi (SOFI) rebounded Tuesday, but the stock is still deep in the red for the year. Shares started 2024 at $26.18, according to Yahoo Finance historical data, and ended Tuesday at $15.98. That’s a fall of about 39% since Dec. 31.
SoFi turned in what bulls wanted last quarter. The company posted a record first-quarter GAAP net revenue of $1.1 billion, adjusted EBITDA of $339.9 million, and loan originations at a record $12.2 billion. Total members reached 14.7 million. CEO Anthony Noto described it as a period of “durable growth and strong returns.” SEC
The stock dropped even after SoFi posted better-than-expected results. The company kept its 2026 revenue forecast steady, which investors had hoped would go higher after the earnings beat. William Blair’s Andrew Jeffrey noted SoFi didn’t raise its guidance after the first quarter surprise, but he said there was “limited downside.” CEO Noto told Reuters that the consumer base is still strong. Reuters
SoFi kept lending active in the first quarter, and growth in deposits supported that. Net interest income was up 39% in the period. Fee-based revenue, including brokerage, interchange, and loan-platform fees, climbed 23%.
Tech platform revenue at SoFi dropped 27% in Q1, after a big client left the platform for good in 2025, the company said. Accounts on the platform slid to 132.9 million from 158.4 million a year ago.
So the SpaceX story helps, but it isn’t a game changer. A big IPO draws eyes to the app, but that doesn’t solve a falling tech-platform business or show that investment tools can replace lending on the balance sheet.
Investors face another risk. Reuters says buyers of the 50 priciest IPOs in the last five years would have underperformed an S&P 500 index fund about 75% of the time. Dennis Dick at Triple D Trading told Reuters it’s “difficult to make money” unless you get in early. University of Florida IPO researcher Jay Ritter said when price-to-sales ratios are high, “stuff could go wrong.” Reuters
SoFi’s risk is the same old story. SpaceX hype might die down, retail allocations could stay limited, credit losses might climb, or more expensive funding could hurt lending. Shares probably won’t get a clear direction just from IPO talk. The real test comes if member growth keeps driving profits for the whole platform, not just in a stretch of active trading.
