SpaceX IPO arrives: Everything you need to know about the stratospheric listing
SpaceX's stock market debut is set to be the biggest of all time. How much could SpaceX be worth at its IPO, and what does it mean for investors?
SpaceX’s initial public offering (IPO) took place this week, with shares commencing trading when US markets open on Friday 12 June.
SpaceX, founded and managed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, filed an amendment to its IPO filing on 3 June that confirmed it expected to issue 555.6 million shares at a price of $135 each.
Selling that many shares at that price would raise approximately $75 billion for SpaceX, making it by far the largest IPO of all time.
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Reuters reported on 9 June that the IPO was almost four times oversubscribed, citing anonymous sources familiar with the process.
SpaceX has been a key pioneer of the modern space economy. Its Starlink network consists of over 9,000 satellites that provide internet connectivity all over Earth, while its rockets facilitated more than 80% of the US’s licensed space launches in 2025.
This was the first IPO that allowed UK-based investors to buy shares ahead of the event.
SpaceX is listing on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker ‘SPCX’.
Dan Ives, head of global technology research at investment bank Wedbush Securities, said the listing could represent “the largest IPO in stock market history as the company remains at the centre of two of the largest growth opportunities over the coming decades”, referring to space and artificial intelligence (AI).
For live coverage and updates of SpaceX’s IPO, follow our US sister site Kiplinger’s live report.
What is SpaceX's IPO valuation?
SpaceX’s target share price implies a market capitalisation of over $1.75 trillion, enough to make it one of the 10 most valuable companies in the world, when it goes public – assuming that it is able to sell all the issued shares at this price or above.
Pricing private companies can be complex. London-listed investment trust Scottish Mortgage recently confirmed that it assumes a $1.25 trillion valuation for SpaceX when valuing its stake in the company.
Some experts have questioned whether SpaceX is worth the price tag it sought to list at. Research published on 1 June by investment research company Morningstar valued SpaceX at $780 billion, around 48% lower than its latest private market valuation of $1.5 trillion and 55% below its apparent $1.75 trillion IPO price tag.
The research, led by equity analyst Nicolas Owens and equity director Suryansh Sharma, highlighted that the economic moat for SpaceX’s AI business, which accounts for most of its expected value, is “uncertain”.
SpaceX’s IPO filing envisages a $28.5 trillion total addressable market (TAM), the vast majority of which ($26.5 trillion) is ascribed to AI. Within AI, even eye-catching segments like AI infrastructure are a relatively small portion of the total (expected to be worth $2.4 trillion); enterprise applications – in other words, AI products sold to businesses – are expected to account for $22.7 trillion, around 80% of SpaceX’s entire TAM.
Space-enabled solutions, by contrast, are expected to account for just $370 billion, or 1.3% of SpaceX’s TAM, while connectivity (Starlink Broadband and Starlink Mobile) are expected to make up another $1.6 trillion, or 5.6% of the TAM.
What could SpaceX’s IPO mean for the markets?
Many experts believe that if SpaceX’s IPO is a success, it could open the door for a fresh wave of mega-cap tech IPOs.
AI developers OpenAI and Anthropic have both filed for IPOs since the start of June, and other private tech giants like Databricks, Stripe and Anduril could follow. This could potentially create “a wave of new market capitalisation large enough to reprice growth equities more broadly” according to Stephen Dover, chief market strategist at investment manager Franklin Templeton.
However, there are risks posed by the prospect of so many huge private companies entering public markets at the same time.
“If several mega-cap IPOs come in the same window of time, they will compete for capital not only with each other, but also with existing publicly traded growth stocks,” said Dover. “That could create rotation pressure across software, semiconductors, fintech, defence tech and AI beneficiaries.”
Dover also cautioned that the increased scrutiny of public markets could test the valuations of these private companies, most of which have raised large amounts of money at very high valuations over the latest business cycle.
How can you invest in SpaceX?
Before investing in SpaceX, it is important to consider the risks involved. The company is listing at a very high valuation – around 100 times sales (Nvidia, by comparison, trades at around 22 times sales) – and lost nearly $5 billion last year.
After SpaceX’s IPO, most brokers that allow you to buy US-listed stocks ought to enable you to buy its shares like those of any other listed company.
If you haven’t bought US-listed stocks through your broker or investment platform already, you may need to complete a W-8BEN form – a simple form that entitles you to a reduced tax rate in the US on your investments. Your broker will prompt you for this if and when it is needed.
There are various ways to gain exposure to SpaceX besides buying its shares directly. You could, for example, buy an investment trust that holds the stock, such as Scottish Mortgage (LON:SMT).
