Elon Musk’s SpaceX has set a suggested share price of $135 (£100) for its upcoming stock market debut, a move that would value the company at roughly $1.75tn – making it the largest initial public offering in history if it succeeds. The target price, disclosed in a filing more than a week before trading is expected to begin on the Nasdaq on 12 June, is a rare early estimate. Companies typically only reveal the price they want to sell their shares the day before they start trading. The valuation is a sharp increase from SpaceX's previous $1.25tn estimate earlier this year.
The company is aiming to raise $75bn, dwarfing the current IPO record of $25.6bn set by oil giant Saudi Aramco in 2019. Musk, who controls more than 80% of SpaceX through his stock holdings, could become a trillionaire if the shares sell at or above the proposed price. But the final price will be determined by buyers and could go up or down.
“SpaceX targets $1.75tn valuation with $135 share price in what would be the largest IPO in history.”
"There is no doubt the valuation is incredibly rich," said Samuel Kerr, head of equity capital markets research at Mergermarket. He noted that SpaceX is pricing itself at a sales ratio higher than any of the so-called Mag 7 stocks – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Nvidia, Microsoft and Tesla, another Musk company. "But SpaceX is being valued on future earnings and revenue rather than the here and now, so some investors might be willing to overlook that," Kerr added.
Last year, Space Exploration Technologies – as SpaceX is officially known – posted $18.6bn (£13.8bn) in revenue but a net loss of $4.9bn. In the first three months of this year it achieved $4.7bn in sales but made a net loss of $4.3bn. Its balance sheet shows $102bn in assets, against $60.5bn of debt. According to Dealogic, almost half of companies that have gone public in the last 30 years have seen their value decrease compared with their listing price.