The Record-Breaking Stakes of the SpaceX IPO

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

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Luke Vargas (0:16)

Hey, What's News listeners. It's Sunday, June 7th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and this is What's News Sunday, the show where we tackle the big questions about the biggest stories in the news. And on the show this week, a blockbuster year for IPOs is about to kick into high gear when SpaceX goes public on Friday. The listing is set to be the biggest in Wall Street history and potentially dwarf the current IPO record threefold. It will not only test the endurance of a broad market rally, but stands to boost the fortunes of a universe of other space-related companies thirsty for new investment. In the countdown to listing day, we'll look back at SpaceX's role in paving the way for the broader space economy and consider where the company can possibly go from here. Let's get right to it.

Well with us this week to break down what could be a historic IPO and reflect on SpaceX's legacy, our journal reporters Corrie Driebusch and Micah Maidenberg. Corrie is our in-house IPO expert while Micah covers the space industry.

Corrie, it's Thursday, June 4th, I should say. We're still more than a week out from this IPO at the time we're speaking, but we have received updated paperwork in advance of this public filing. You've been going through the company's preparations, break down what we know at this point, the numbers behind this deal. What are we expecting?

Corrie Driebusch (1:42)

So SpaceX is bucking tradition. You can say when it set its price for shares, typically companies set a range, and after days of meeting with investors and getting feedback, they then pick a price the night before the stock starts trading.

In the case of SpaceX, they put out a filing saying we are going to sell about 556 million shares at a price of $135 a share. They're saying take it or leave it. I've heard from talking to sources, the goal was to eliminate drama in the process. It's a pretty crazy decision. We have seen it before with some past offerings, but it's definitely extremely unusual.

Luke Vargas (2:27)

A way to simplify the roadshow, could it also just be a statement of, hey, we know how valuable we are. As you said, take it or leave it. We don't need to have another negotiation here at the 11th hour.

Corrie Driebusch (2:40)

It does seem to speak to how SpaceX is approaching this process of, look, we're going to appeal to indexes to let us in early. We're going to just tell you the price.

It speaks to a very unconventional path that is being taken. Because really when you think about it, an IPO is typically the first chance where all types of investors are able to speak up and give their opinions about how much they want to pay. It's really the first price discovery for a private company.

Luke Vargas (3:13)

And Corrie, though it's not the first time investors have had a chance to kind of peek under the hood because SpaceX submitted some paperwork several weeks back, fascinating insights into the profitability or lack thereof of the business.

Corrie Driebusch (3:25)

We did see about three weeks ago when SpaceX made its regulatory filing public. We did see what it earned in revenue in 2025, and that was nearly $19 billion.

But now, with this price point of $135 a share, folks can start to calculate price to sales. And when you look at those numbers, you can see that SpaceX is trying to be priced at about 93.6 times its sales. SpaceX was unprofitable in 2025 It lost almost $5 billion.

Most of the money that it makes is from subscriptions to its Starlink, satellite internet service, and its rocket launches. It also has some revenues through its acquisition of XAI. When companies are going public, they often like to advertise what their TAM, or Total Addressable Market, is. And that is shorthand for what they see as their opportunities for future revenues. And SpaceX said in its IPO filing that its TAM is $28.5 trillion, which it says is the largest in human history. And a lot of that comes from what they see as their AI infrastructure opportunities.

Luke Vargas (4:49)

Micah, this is a great point to bring you in on. This is a business SpaceX had several years ago to some investors look kind of just like a glorified internet provider with rocket launch technology on the side. How could that be a multi trillion dollar business? But now XAI is in the mix.