SpaceX Shares Rise 6% After Record IPO as Valuation Questions Mount

SpaceX stock rose about 6 percent in premarket trading Monday, extending gains from its record-setting Nasdaq debut last week that made the company more valuable than Tesla and pushed its market capitalization past $2 trillion. Shares reached the $170 range after closing at $161 on Friday, up 19 percent from the $135 IPO price. The performance capped the largest initial public offering in U.S. history for the company that runs the Starlink satellite network and a fleet of reusable rockets.

The surge came even as independent analysts issued sharply lower price targets. CFRA opened coverage with a sell rating and a 12-month target of $115, citing the company's aggressive growth plans, heavy capital demands and stretched valuation. Morningstar analyst Nicolas Owens valued the shares at $63 and labeled them overvalued. NewStreet Research offered a more bullish $165 target, but the range of views underscored how much of the current price rests on future promises rather than current results.

SpaceX reported a nearly $5 billion loss for 2025. In the first quarter alone it spent $10.1 billion on capital projects, more than double the $4.1 billion outlay a year earlier, with the bulk directed toward artificial intelligence initiatives. The company completed its acquisition of Elon Musk's xAI startup in February, folding the AI operation into its existing rocket and satellite businesses.

The IPO also elevated Musk's personal fortune, with some market observers calling him the world's first trillionaire on paper. SpaceX now ranks as the seventh-largest public company by market value, behind only Nvidia, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Taiwan Semiconductor. Tesla shares, which rose Friday, carry a market capitalization of roughly $1.52 trillion.

Beyond the trading floor, the sudden wealth has drawn attention from financial advisers eager to manage newly liquid shares held by former employees. Scott Morton, who worked at SpaceX before founding his own software firm, described receiving handwritten letters, branded merchandise and direct messages from wealth managers in recent months. Morton said his family had little prior exposure to investing, yet firms now treat his SpaceX equity as a prized client asset.

The contrast between the company's operating losses and its Wall Street reception highlights the broader debate over whether the valuation can be sustained. Capital intensity remains high, and the merged AI and space operations face execution risks that several research firms have flagged as underappreciated by the current share price. Trading this week will offer the first sustained test of whether momentum holds or whether the more cautious analyst calls begin to weigh on sentiment.