The wait is almost over. Space Exploration Technologies Corp (better known as SpaceX) has formally filed to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the proposed ticker “SPCX”.
Behind all the hype and hyperbole, you’re probably wondering if buying SpaceX shares is a smart idea. Will this stock take over the world (and other worlds, if Elon’s plans come to fruition) or perhaps end in a crash landing? Let’s take a look at what’s possible.
If you’ve weighed up the atmospheric risks, reviewed the financial metrics, and decided you want a piece of Elon Musk’s intergalactic empire, you’ll need an agile investing platform that can handle Nasdaq execution from the very first opening bell.
Because the stock is listing in the US, British retail investors face a few unique hurdles — mainly high FX conversion fees and hidden platform charges that eat into your returns.
Thankfully, XTB offers a remarkably user-friendly gateway for retail investors looking at major US listings like SpaceX (SPCX):
Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invested. This is not financial advice.
According to its recent regulatory filing, SpaceX has officially evolved far beyond a simple aerospace contractor. The company operates 3 highly interconnected, multi-trillion-dollar core segments:
You might assume a company dominating the solar system is printing pure cash, but the financial statements inside the prospectus show a highly complex balancing act.
While the satellite and launch businesses are highly profitable on an isolated operational basis, SpaceX reported a consolidated net loss of roughly $5 billion last year.
Here’s a quick overview of SpaceX’s pre-IPO finances:
| Financial term (the jargon) | The number | What it actually means (in plain English) |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue (total sales) | $18.7B | The total amount of cash coming through the door. It’s growing fast, but the prospectus reveals the valuation relies heavily on massive tech bets, like its multi-billion dollar AI infrastructure deals. |
| Adjusted EBITDA (core profit) | $6.6B | What the business makes on day-to-day operations before boring accounting variables like taxes and debt are taken out. At $6.6 billion, the core business is strong, boasting a 35% operating profit margin. |
| Net loss (the bottom line) | –$4.94B | The final scorecard. Even though the core business is profitable, SpaceX officially lost roughly $5 billion last year because Elon Musk is aggressively reinvesting every penny into cash-burning projects like the Starship fleet and massive AI data centers. |
| Implied multiples (the price tag) | 100x / 300x | How “expensive” the stock is — 100x sales / 300x EBITDA. For context, even tech giants like Nvidia look cheap by comparison. At 100x sales, public investors are paying an absolute premium to own a piece of the (possible) future. |
If you think SpaceX just makes money by launching satellites and government cargo, you’re missing the bigger picture. The IPO prospectus outlines a deeply integrated tech flywheel that is essentially positioning SpaceX as the physical data backbone for global AI infrastructure.
SpaceX controls roughly 75% of all active, maneuverable satellites orbiting the Earth. Its extreme vertical integration means it designs, builds, and launches its own hardware at a fraction of the cost of rivals.
Starlink isn’t just providing WiFi to aeroplanes and remote travellers – the network is a global digital web, and it will be extremely difficult for competitors such as Amazon’s Project Kuiper to catch up.
Following its strategic merger with xAI, SpaceX has plugged Elon Musk’s AI vertical straight into its satellite constellation. Combined with a massive $15 billion annual compute infrastructure contract with Anthropic, SpaceX is selling an unbeatable infrastructure monopoly.
In theory, the rockets place the satellites, the satellites stream the global data, and the integrated AI models process it in real time.
Claimed TAM: $28.5 trillion
Every giant leap has equally giant risks, and the SpaceX prospectus reveals a few massive craters that investors should look closely at.
SpaceX pulled in an impressive $18.7 billion in top-line revenue last year. The catch? It posted a net loss of $5 billion. Elon Musk is pouring cash into the future at an eye-watering rate, deploying $20.7 billion into capital expenditures in 2025 alone to aggressively scale.
In a move critics view as classic hyperbole, the prospectus claims a Total Addressable Market of a staggering $28.5 trillion – larger than the entire annual GDP of the United States. Some bears believe this is an unrealistic, artificially inflated baseline used to justify a sky-high $1.75 trillion valuation.
Public investors are effectively buying a ticket with no steering wheel. Under a dual-class structure, the public buys Class A shares (1 vote each) while Musk retains Class B shares (10 votes each). Post-IPO, Musk will control 85.1% of total voting power despite owning only about 42% of the equity. The captain of the ship knows best – this is no democracy.
Usually, when a company debuts, it goes through a volatile period of “price discovery” where investors buy and sell until the stock stabilises. SpaceX, however, has engineered a double-failsafe to potentially keep the stock price propped up from the get-go:
SpaceX is only releasing roughly 4.5% to 5% of its total shares to the public. By strictly capping supply while demand is at an all-time high, they create an intentional supply crunch. High demand plus limited supply equals a buoyant stock price.
In an unprecedented move, the Nasdaq has bent its own rules to fast-track SpaceX into the Nasdaq 100 index within just 15 days of listing. Instantly joining the index means every passive Nasdaq 100 fund will shortly start buying SpaceX stock automatically.
Deciding whether to back the SpaceX IPO depends entirely on your investment strategy and appetite for risk. In the near term, the unique structure of the listing — specifically the restricted 5% share supply and fast-tracked index inclusion — is highly likely to generate immense immediate market demand, though newly listed tech stocks of this scale are historically prone to sharp price swings as the initial dust settles.
For the long haul, buying into SpaceX means backing an aggressive, capital-heavy reinvestment cycle, requiring you to look past its current $5 billion net loss in exchange for a stake in a global space and AI infrastructure monopoly. While conservative investors seeking predictable, mature earnings might find the ride too bumpy, it offers a genuinely one-of-a-kind play for growth-focused portfolios comfortable with high-stakes expansion.
If you’ve weighed up the atmospheric risks, reviewed the financial metrics, and decided you want a piece of Elon Musk’s intergalactic empire, you’ll need an agile investing platform that can handle Nasdaq execution from the very first opening bell.
Because the stock is listing in the US, British retail investors face a few unique hurdles — mainly high FX conversion fees and hidden platform charges that eat into your returns.
Thankfully, XTB offers a remarkably user-friendly gateway for retail investors looking at major US listings like SpaceX (SPCX):
Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invested. This is not financial advice.
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