Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX has overtaken Amazon to become the world's fifth most valuable firm, a milestone that highlights the gulf between investor hype and traditional business performance. Days after its record-breaking stock market debut, SpaceX's share price surged more than 50%, pushing its market value to around $2.78tn (£2.1tn) compared with Amazon's $2.66tn. The leap came as SpaceX announced it would buy AI coding start-up Cursor for $60bn, a move aimed at strengthening its artificial intelligence capabilities. But while SpaceX's valuation now dwarfs that of the e-commerce giant, its revenues and profits tell a very different story.
The basics of this story revolve around a single company: SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk in 2002 with the goal of reducing space travel costs. Today, it is far more than a rocket manufacturer. SpaceX also runs Starlink, a satellite internet service that is the only profitable part of the business; owns the social media platform X (formerly Twitter); and houses Musk's AI venture, xAI. On 12 June 2026, SpaceX listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in the biggest initial public offering (IPO) ever, raising $85.7bn and making Musk the world's first trillionaire. The shares, initially priced at $135 each, quickly rose to $209, minting huge paper gains for early investors. Yet as analysts point out, only about 4% of the shares are freely tradeable, raising concerns about price sustainability.
“SpaceX's $2.78tn valuation, explained: why it overtook Amazon and what it means for UK readers.”
The background to this valuation gap lies in the very different natures of the two businesses. Amazon is a household name with massive, reliable revenue: in 2025 it reported sales of $716.9bn and net income of $78bn. By contrast, SpaceX made just $18.67bn in revenue and lost $4.3bn in the first quarter of 2026. Amazon's brand is embedded in daily life; SpaceX's products—rockets and satellite broadband—touch far fewer people directly. Yet investors are betting on Musk's vision of sending AI data centres into space and colonising Mars. Venture capitalist Eileen Burbidge told the BBC that many traders are buying "a well-marketed opportunity" to invest in Musk himself, rather than basing decisions on SpaceX's financial fundamentals.
Why does this matter for UK readers? Musk's growing influence is already felt in Britain. He has used X to weigh in on UK politics, drawing criticism from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and others for his views and the platform's impact on public debate. The success of his IPO could encourage more UK investors to pile into high-risk, visionary tech stocks, potentially inflating a bubble. On a practical level, Starlink's expansion could improve rural broadband in the UK, but its ownership by a single, politically active billionaire raises questions about control over critical infrastructure. Meanwhile, Cursor's AI coding tool, which automates software development, could reshape how British tech companies build products—and threaten some jobs.
Key questions answered:
Q: How can SpaceX be worth more than Amazon if it makes far less money? A: Stock market value reflects expected future profits, not current earnings. Investors are betting that SpaceX's rocket launches, Starlink subscriptions and AI ventures will generate huge returns in the long term, even if they haven't yet. In contrast, Amazon's steady but slower growth means a lower valuation multiple.
Q: Who owns SpaceX and how did Elon Musk become a trillionaire? A: Musk is the founder, CEO and largest shareholder. The IPO minted him as the world's first trillionaire, with a net worth estimated at $1.3tn by Forbes. Other early investors and employees also own large stakes, but only a small fraction of shares trade publicly.
Q: What is Cursor and why did SpaceX buy it? A: Cursor is an AI-powered coding app made by San Francisco-based Anysphere. It uses artificial intelligence to automate writing computer code, a rapidly growing market led by companies like Anthropic. The $60bn acquisition gives xAI (SpaceX's AI arm) access to more than 1 million professional developers who already use the tool daily.
What happens next? SpaceX's share price remains volatile, with some analysts warning that small shareholders could be diluted when institutional investors eventually sell their stakes. The company will need to show it can turn its grand visions into actual profits. Its next big challenge is integrating Cursor and proving its AI models can compete with rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic. Meanwhile, Musk's political activism, including his role in helping Donald Trump win the 2024 US election, ensures he will remain a divisive figure in both the US and UK for the foreseeable future.