SpaceX shares rose in premarket trading after a record IPO, intensifying debate over whether its $2 trillion-plus valuation can be justified.
SpaceX shares climbed about 6% in premarket trading Monday, extending gains from a record-setting market debut that valued Elon Musk’s space company at more than $2 trillion.
The stock was trading near $170 before the open, according to CNBC, after jumping 19% Friday in what the outlet described as the biggest initial public offering in history. SpaceX priced shares at $135 and closed its first day of trading at $161 on the Nasdaq.
The surge has quickly shifted attention from the scale of the offering to whether investors are assigning too much value to a company with enormous ambitions, heavy spending and losses. SpaceX reported $18.7 billion in revenue in 2025 and lost nearly $5 billion that year, CNBC reported.
Musk added to the debate over the weekend, posting on X that SpaceX “might be able to reach approximately” $1 trillion in revenue in 2030 and adding that he would be surprised if revenue was not greater than $1 trillion in 2031.
SpaceX operates the Starlink satellite internet business and reusable rocket fleet. In February, Musk merged the company with his artificial intelligence startup xAI, tying the newly public company more closely to the investor demand around AI infrastructure. CNBC reported that SpaceX’s capital expenditures totaled $10.1 billion in the three months ended March, up from $4.1 billion in the same period a year earlier, with most of that spending directed toward artificial intelligence.
Some analysts are urging caution. CFRA initiated coverage Friday with a “sell” rating and a 12-month price target of $115, citing the company’s ambitious growth strategy, elevated valuation expectations and capital intensity. Morningstar analyst Nicolas Owens valued the stock at $63 a share in a June 8 note and called it overvalued.
Paulina Roszkowska, a finance lecturer at Bayes Business School, told CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition” that SpaceX has made “a lot of promises” but will eventually need to convert them into cash flow. She also questioned whether the IPO prospectus provided enough detail on governance and execution risks.
Other analysts are more constructive. NewStreet Research began coverage with a $165 price target, and James Ratzer, a partner and senior analyst at the firm, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” that the current valuation may be defensible only over a much longer time horizon than most public equities.
Ratzer pointed to SpaceX’s launch capabilities as a central advantage, saying the company has “at least a 10-year lead” over competitors. He said future plans tied to Starlink, direct-to-cell service and orbital data centers depend heavily on launch capacity and the development of Starship, SpaceX’s newest launch vehicle.
For now, the stock’s early trading suggests investors are still willing to pay for that long-term story. The next test is whether SpaceX can show that its spending, AI plans and launch lead can support the growth implied by one of the market’s largest valuations.
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