SpaceX IPO – With SpaceX’s IPO expected to start trading on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX tomorrow, market watchers and lawmakers are pushing back on two fronts: a valuation some say is far too high given the company’s recent net loss, and a dual-class share structure that
For many stock market watchers, the waiting isn’t the hard part. The clock is.
SpaceX’s initial public offering is just one day away. and it is widely expected to be the largest on record. At an IPO price of $135 per share. the company is expected to be valued at around $1.75 trillion—an amount that would place it among the world’s most valuable public companies and could push Elon Musk toward becoming the world’s first trillionaire. The excitement. though. comes bundled with a quieter question: what happens to ordinary investors if the bet doesn’t pay off.
Some of those concerns have sharpened around two issues—how much SpaceX is worth, and who really gets to steer the company once the shares start trading.
At that valuation, SpaceX would immediately rank as the world’s eighth most valuable public company, just behind Broadcom, which currently has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, and just ahead of Saudi Aramco, which currently has a market cap of around $1.74 trillion.
But many industry analysts and retail investors have expressed concern over the sheer size of the valuation. Their central point is that SpaceX’s business does not yet show the kind of broad. steady profitability that many trillion-dollar companies have delivered quarter after quarter. SpaceX reported a net loss of around $4.9 billion last quarter, and only its Starlink division generates a profit.
In that view, the IPO price appears to bake in a lot of faith that SpaceX will succeed on several fronts in the years ahead—faith that may not hold up, especially if investors reassess the numbers after the company begins trading.
Some high-profile analysts have gone further, arguing the offering is overvalued. Morningstar analysts have said SpaceX’s fair market value is around $780 billion. Morningstar added that “investors will have opportunities to buy the stock at more attractive levels after the IPO. ” a stance that reflects the risk that the share price could drop if the market decides the valuation is too optimistic.
The second concern is about control.
When a company goes public, its shareholders—at least on paper—get a say through voting rights. SpaceX offers two classes of shares: Class A and Class B. Class A shares are the type that retail investors can buy, while Class B shares are reserved for SpaceX insiders and bigwig investors like Musk.
Under the dual-class system, the balance of voting power tilts sharply. Class A shares confer one vote apiece, while Class B shares confer 10 votes apiece. Musk holds around 94% of Class B shares. making it nearly impossible for retail investors to take action against Musk if they decide they don’t like how the company is being run.
The practical consequence is stark. Even if retail investors wanted SpaceX to have a different CEO, Musk could almost certainly defeat their motion through his Class B voting rights alone.
That governance issue is part of what is drawing pressure from Washington.
On June 9, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts—who is a ranking member on the Senate’s banking committee—sent a letter to Paul Atkins, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), urging the agency to delay the SpaceX IPO.
In the letter. Warren said the offering “appears to present significant risks to ordinary investors and their retirement savings. ” while carrying “enormous advantages for SpaceX insiders. ” including senior Trump Administration officials. Her “extreme concern” centered on the company’s valuation and governance. and on an additional worry that “major stock market indexes are being rigged in a way that would force millions of investors in passive index funds . . . to invest in SpaceX and face exposure to SpaceX’s significant risks with no choice in the matter.”.
Fast Company has reached out to the SEC and SpaceX for comment on Warren’s concerns.
The timing, however, is tight. With the company’s first public trading day less than 24 hours away, it appears unlikely the SEC will halt the IPO. SpaceX is expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX tomorrow.
Inside the numbers and the voting math, a clear tension is starting to emerge: a valuation that some believe is built on future success, and a corporate structure that gives retail investors limited leverage if reality arrives differently than the price implies.
SpaceX IPO Nasdaq SPCX Elon Musk valuation concerns Morningstar fair market value dual-class shares Class A Class B votes SEC Paul Atkins Elizabeth Warren letter retail investors index funds