SpaceX has officially set its initial public offering at $135 per share, targeting a record $75 billion raise and giving Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite company a valuation of nearly $1.77 trillion. The offering is scheduled to begin trading on the Nasdaq on Friday.
The IPO price was locked in during a Thursday afternoon meeting with bankers and disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing while U.S. markets were still open, according to Reuters. This timing is unusual because such announcements typically come after the 4 PM market close to avoid market-moving events affecting the deal.
Retail investors get a larger slice
Musk reserved roughly 30% of shares for individual retail investors, far above the typical 10% allocation. Edward Best, co-chair of the capital markets practice at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, told NBC News that the figure was “actually quite high” and linked it partly to Musk’s personal interest in individual buyers. The bet appears to have paid off: Forbes reported that regular investors placed more than $100 billion in orders, vastly exceeding the shares set aside for them.
After the IPO, Musk will retain 82% control of the company, according to Reuters. At a valuation of $1.77 trillion, SpaceX will rank seventh among U.S.-listed companies, ahead of JPMorgan Chase, Meta Platforms, and Tesla itself.
Not everyone is convinced
Some analysts remain skeptical about the price tag. Morningstar analysts wrote last week that SpaceX is “overvalued” given its financials, pegging their own estimate at $780 billion. The company generated roughly $19 billion in revenue last year but has not yet turned a profit. Morningstar noted, “With a small initial float boosted by almost every investment bank on the planet, buoyant investor appetite for AI infrastructure bids, and an unprecedented path to inclusion in the Nasdaq 100 Index just 15 trading days after the IPO, we expect SpaceX’s share price will likely survive separation and even ascent toward orbit, at least for a time.”
Dan Hanson, senior portfolio manager at Neuberger Berman, was more bullish. His fund invested in SpaceX while it was still private. He told NBC News that investors should view the company as a combination of its launch business, Starlink satellite internet network, and AI ambitions. “This team is just getting started,” he said.
Starlink drives revenue
Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, currently generates the majority of the company’s revenue, connecting customers across 164 countries. Its rocket operations account for more than four-fifths of all mass launched into orbit over the past three years, the company said in its prospectus. SpaceX estimates its total addressable market at $28.5 trillion, though a large portion of that figure depends on xAI, its artificial intelligence unit.
The IPO could help define a year that Goldman Sachs has forecast will produce a record $160 billion in total IPO proceeds. That pipeline also includes OpenAI and Anthropic. Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, told NBC News that any one of these three offerings “could raise more money than every other deal, combined.” He estimated SpaceX alone will raise more than all U.S. IPOs in 2024 and 2025 combined.
