SpaceX shares surged 19% on Friday as trading commenced on the Nasdaq, closing at a price that implies a roughly $2 trillion market capitalization according to CNBC. The initial public offering raised $75 billion, making it the largest IPO in history, per MarketWatch. The $150 share price places the company among the top 10 largest U.S. companies by market value.
Going public at approximately 90 times sales—rather than profits—has drawn scrutiny. Adam Johnson, portfolio manager at the Bullseye American Ingenuity Fund, told Axios that the valuation appears "divorced from underlying business fundamentals." This is a notable friction point even as the broader space industry celebrates the milestone. The Space Foundation's CEO, Heather Pringle, told Bloomberg that the IPO demonstrates "viable pathways to profitability" across communications, launch services, and navigation.
Elon Musk, ahead of the debut, remarked that he gave SpaceX "less than a 10% chance of succeeding at all," adding that it was worth trying to create a "space-faring civilization." Bloomberg space reporter Loren Grush noted that Musk remains intensely focused on Starship and reusability—the "holy grail" of lowering launch costs. Former NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao credited SpaceX with already bringing down the price of access to space.
The stock's performance injects fresh optimism into the space sector. Historically, however, the majority of companies that go public underperform the market in their first three years, according to University of Florida finance professor Jay Ritter. A cautionary note: Musk may have delivered on lofty promises before, but the premium embedded in SpaceX's valuation leaves little room for execution missteps.