Starlink

Falcon 9

Tesla

SpaceX is set to launch the largest IPO in U.S. history as early as June 12 at a valuation near $1.75 trillion.&nbsp;
With more than 555 million Class A shares set to be listed at $135 each, with the aim of raising roughly $75 billion, there’s not a shortage of opinions on whether investors should jump on the Musk-led train.&nbsp;
<h3 id="span-how-can-spacex-be-worth-1-75-trillion-when-it-is-losing-billions-span">How can SpaceX be worth $1.75 trillion when it is losing billions?&nbsp;</h3>
SpaceX will list 555 million of its <a href="https://www.cryptopolitan.com/spacex-files-for-ipo-ahead-of-schedule/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">class A shares on the Nasdaq</a> under the ticker SPCX. It will be the largest initial public offering in U.S. history, with shares expected to begin trading as early as June 12 at a price of $135 each. The company has a target valuation of nearly $1.75 trillion and is aiming to raise roughly $75 billion.&nbsp;
Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan are all <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/wall-street-banks-ceos-promote-spacex-in-flashy-events-with-bofa-morgan-stanley-2026-06-04/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">hosting exclusive events</a> this week to pitch SpaceX to their wealthiest clients. Bank of America plans to light its Manhattan headquarters spire to resemble a rocket launch. More than 5,000 clients across BofA’s private bank and Merrill Lynch have been invited to launch parties, with events streamed to offices nationwide.&nbsp;
Despite the excitement and hype, a look at the company’s finances reveals that Starlink and reusable rockets like the Falcon 9, the combined company, which now includes the social media platform X and the AI firm xAI, are losing a tremendous amount of money.&nbsp;
In the first quarter of 2026, SpaceX posted an operating loss of $1.9 billion. The decline is largely driven by xAI, which lost $2.5 billion in that same quarter alone.&nbsp;
While Starlink is profitable, bringing in $4.4 billion in operating income, its efforts are being offset by the massive costs of building AI technology. Meanwhile, SpaceX generated $19.3 billion in revenue over the last four quarters.
At the IPO price, SpaceX would trade at roughly 103 times its sales over the last four quarters, which is about 40% more expensive than Palantir, currently the priciest stock in the S&amp;P 500.&nbsp;
Morningstar analyst Nicolas Owens <a href="https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20260604172/tech-is-flashing-a-warning-sign-last-seen-in-2020-strategist-larry-mcdonald-sees-a-massive-rotation-coming" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">estimates</a> that the company is actually worth about half that amount, closer to $780 billion. He also thinks that investors will get a better chance to buy the stock later at a lower price.
A Motley Fool review of more than 100 popular technology stocks found only eight that ever traded above 100 times sales. All of them dropped sharply afterward, with an average peak-to-trough decline of 75%.
The 10 largest U.S. IPOs by initial market value have underperformed the S&amp;P 500 by an average of 127 percentage points since listing.
<h3 id="span-why-is-wall-street-not-worried-about-spacex-span">Why is Wall Street not worried about SpaceX?</h3>
Despite its numbers, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 became the first commercially reusable orbital rocket in 2018. The company’s S-1 filing with the SEC also says its next-generation Starship could reduce the cost of reaching orbit by 99%. SpaceX values its total addressable market at $28.5 trillion, spanning satellite internet, launch services, and long-term ambitions like orbital data centers.
ARK Invest, which holds SpaceX in its venture ETF, has <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/04/ark-invest-owns-spacex-in-its-venture-etf-it-says-starlink-alone-supports-2-trillion-value-at-ipo.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">argued</a> that Starlink alone could support a $2 trillion valuation at IPO.
JPMorgan strategists led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou pushed back on fears that mega-IPOs will drain liquidity from existing stocks.&nbsp;
<h3 id="span-what-is-the-true-value-of-spacex-span">What is the true value of SpaceX?&nbsp;</h3>
Elon Musk’s firms often do business together, an interaction that goes beyond exchanging cash for products and services. Even investors apply the goodwill of one firm to another.&nbsp;
Tesla disclosed a $2 billion investment in xAI in January after the SpaceX-xAI merger, and Cryptopolitan <a href="https://www.cryptopolitan.com/is-elon-planning-to-merge-spacex-with-tesla/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">previously reported</a> that SpaceX’s prospectus shows the company plans to spend $697 million on Tesla Megapack batteries for xAI data centers and $131 million on Tesla Cybertrucks.
SpaceX’s revenue grew 15% year over year. Its merger with xAI valued the firm at $1 trillion and xAI at $250 billion. The company generated $818 million in revenue.
Anthropic recently closed a $65 billion funding round at a $965 billion valuation and reported run-rate revenue of $47 billion. The company said it expects to post its first quarterly operating profit of $559 million on $10.9 billion in Q2 revenue.&nbsp;
On a price-to-sales basis, Anthropic trades at about 20 times run-rate revenue, a fraction of what xAI commands inside SpaceX’s structure.
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SpaceX IPO draws record Wall Street fanfare, but valuation math gives analysts pause

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