Scottish Mortgage Taps Secondary Market as SpaceX Stake Balloons to £3 Billion

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust issues millions of shares to capitalize on a 6.6% premium, fueled by SpaceX's 1,900% gain and Nvidia's AI-driven earnings surge.

The premium on Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust’s shares has forced management into an aggressive issuance campaign, even as the fund’s largest unlisted holding, SpaceX, propels its net asset value higher. In six tranches over the past week, the company placed millions of shares from its own treasury, culminating in a 2.25-million-share block sold at 1,496.62 pence on Friday. That single transaction raised roughly £33.7 million before fees.

The issuance is a textbook response to a premium: the latest reported net asset value stood at about 1,405 pence per share, leaving the London-listed stock trading at a 6.6% markup. Yet the underlying driver of investor enthusiasm is the near-20% portfolio weight in SpaceX. What started as a £151 million investment in 2019 has swelled to nearly £3 billion — a gain exceeding 1,900%. Market chatter values the rocket company at up to $1.25 trillion ahead of a June 2026 initial public offering, though SpaceX booked a net loss of $4.27 billion in the first quarter of 2026 and early investors face a 180-day lock-up after the float.

Alongside the private-market bet, public holdings are catching fire from the artificial-intelligence boom. Nvidia, a core position, reported record first-quarter revenue of $81.6 billion, up 85% year-on-year. Its data-center business surged 92% to $75.2 billion, and chief executive Jensen Huang pointed to an "Agentic AI" wave driving further demand. That earnings blowout helped SMT advance 3.94% on Friday, lifting the share price to 1,500 pence for the first time since late 2021. On the euro-denominated German exchanges, the stock closed at €17.93 — a new 52-week high.

The fund’s total returns reflect the dual momentum. Over the past twelve months, SMT has gained roughly 50%, and the year-to-date advance now stands at 29.12%. That rally has widened the premium to net asset value to 6.52%, a level that has not been sustained for an extended period in recent years. Management is capitalizing by selling shares from its own inventory, a move that benefits existing holders by capturing the premium for the fund.

Scottish Mortgage’s £16 billion portfolio remains heavily tilted toward the United States and Asia. Beyond Nvidia, top listed holdings include TSMC, Amazon, and Meta. Private companies account for about 40% of assets, with ByteDance and Anthropic also among the top ten. Anthropic and OpenAI are both eyeing public listings; if successful, such IPOs would relieve the pressure on net asset value from these opaque holdings.

The next catalyst, however, will come from macro data rather than corporate events. With the annual general meeting not due until July, the fund’s roughly 60% US weighting makes it acutely sensitive to American economic releases. On May 28, fresh figures on personal consumption expenditures and first-quarter gross domestic product are due. Any surprise in inflation could shift the valuation of long-duration growth stocks — especially as the Bank of England holds its key rate at 3.75%.

Meanwhile, the market’s attention will turn to the SpaceX initial public offering in June. A successful debut could drive SMT further, while a delay risks souring sentiment. The fund’s ability to hold above 1,500 pence depends on that binary outcome — and on whether the issuance spree can digest the persistent demand without diluting net asset value growth.