Significant Valuation Discrepancy for SpaceX IPO
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 4 days ago
0mins
Source: Yahoo Finance
- Valuation Discrepancy: Morningstar estimates SpaceX's value at $780 billion, significantly lower than the $1.75 trillion target the company seeks for its upcoming IPO, which may impact investor confidence and market reactions.
- Market Risk Factors: Analysts highlight uncertainties surrounding SpaceX's artificial intelligence, orbital data centers, and Starlink broadband as key risks, which could lead to volatility in how the market values these projects and affect post-IPO stock performance.
- Liquidity and Trading Volatility: The low float and concentrated demand around the IPO may result in high illiquidity for SpaceX shares, potentially leading to sharp price swings, which could attract momentum-focused investors in the short term.
- Long-Term Growth Potential: Despite the risks, SpaceX has seen a 27.3% revenue growth over the past year, providing fundamental support for long-term investors, with future market focus likely on Starlink's network performance and profitability to assess the IPO valuation's validity.
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Analyst Views on MORN
Wall Street analysts forecast MORN stock price to rise
2 Analyst Rating
2 Buy
0 Hold
0 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 181.510
Low
250.00
Averages
285.00
High
320.00
Current: 181.510
Low
250.00
Averages
285.00
High
320.00
About MORN
Morningstar, Inc. is a provider of independent investment insights. The Company's segments include Morningstar Direct Platform, PitchBook, Morningstar Credit, Morningstar Wealth, and Morningstar Retirement. The Morningstar Direct Platform provides investors with data, research and insights, and investment analysis to empower investment decision-making. The PitchBook provides investors with access to data, research, analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) enabled software across private capital markets, including venture capital, private equity, private credit, bank loans, and mergers & acquisitions (M&A). Morningstar Credit provides investors with credit ratings, research, data, and credit analytics solutions. Morningstar Wealth provides investment products, investor tools, and an advisor platform powered by research and data. The Morningstar Retirement offers products designed to help individuals reach retirement goals.
About the author

Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
- Massive Market Potential: SpaceX claims a total addressable market of $28.5 trillion, with $26.5 trillion focused on artificial intelligence, highlighting the company's significant strategic position in future technological advancements.
- IPO Valuation Target: SpaceX aims for a valuation of $1.77 trillion in its IPO, raising up to $75 billion in new capital, which will be rapidly deployed to accelerate investments in AI and space technologies.
- Investor Caution: Despite the optimistic market outlook for SpaceX, a Morningstar report indicates the company's current valuation at only $780 billion, below the IPO's upper target, advising investors to be cautious when participating in the IPO.
- AI Development Risks: SpaceX's investments in AI carry substantial risks, as the company aims to become the largest AI firm globally, yet this division remains unprofitable and faces increasing competition from other major tech players.
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- Cloud Service Agreement: SpaceX has signed a three-year cloud service agreement with Google, which will pay $920 million per month, significantly boosting SpaceX's revenue and enhancing the attractiveness of its upcoming IPO.
- Revenue Growth Potential: SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service generated $11.4 billion in revenue in 2025, making it the only segment with positive EBITDA, showcasing its strong market performance and growth potential.
- AI Business Outlook: Despite xAI's capital expenditures reaching $12.7 billion in 2025 and resulting in losses, the cloud service agreements with Google and Anthropic could shift investor perceptions, positioning xAI as a promising growth area.
- Valuation Controversy: While the Google and Anthropic contracts enhance SpaceX's market outlook, Morningstar suggests a more realistic valuation of $780 billion, significantly lower than the planned $1.8 trillion market cap, indicating ongoing skepticism about xAI's competitive viability.
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- Cloud Services Impact: SpaceX's three-year cloud services agreement with Google, generating $920 million monthly, is expected to significantly boost annual revenue beyond all of its businesses combined in 2025, thereby altering market perceptions of its xAI division.
- AI Business Expenditure: Despite incurring $12.7 billion in capital expenditures for xAI in 2025, leading to losses, the agreements with Google and Anthropic could reposition this segment as a promising growth area, potentially attracting more investor interest.
- Market Valuation Comparison: While the Google and Anthropic contracts enhance SpaceX's revenue outlook, Morningstar assigns a more realistic valuation of $780 billion, significantly lower than the planned $1.8 trillion market cap, indicating concerns about long-term profitability.
- Starlink's Strong Performance: SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service generated $11.4 billion in revenue in 2025, making it the only segment with positive adjusted EBITDA, further enhancing its attractiveness in the upcoming IPO.
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- IPO Valuation Target: SpaceX aims for a $1.77 trillion valuation in its IPO, which, if achieved, would make it one of the largest public offerings in history, with plans to raise up to $75 billion to fund groundbreaking initiatives like a lunar base.
- Market Potential Assessment: In a recent regulatory filing, SpaceX claims a quantifiable total addressable market (TAM) of $28.5 trillion, reflecting the company's strong confidence in future market opportunities that could attract significant investor interest.
- First-Day Performance Expectations: Research by Jay Ritter indicates that IPO stocks have averaged a 23.6% return on their first trading day over the past decade, although initial strong performances are often followed by an average total return of only 10.6% over the next three years, suggesting caution for future performance.
- Profitability Challenges: While SpaceX's rocket and Starlink divisions show strong performance, its AI division remains unprofitable, leading many experts to question its long-term valuation, which could impact investor confidence in the IPO.
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- Valuation Target: SpaceX aims for a $1.77 trillion valuation in its IPO, which would make it one of the largest public offerings in history, with plans to raise up to $75 billion to fund groundbreaking projects like a lunar base.
- Market Potential: In a recent regulatory filing, SpaceX claims its quantifiable total addressable market (TAM) is $28.5 trillion, indicating significant market opportunities in the aerospace sector that could attract substantial investor interest.
- First-Day Performance Expectation: Historical data shows that IPO stocks generally perform well on their first trading day, with an average first-day return of 23.6% from 2012 to 2021, suggesting SpaceX may see a positive market reaction upon debut.
- Long-Term Risk Warning: Despite optimistic first-day expectations, analysts caution that SpaceX's high valuation may lead to downward pressure on its stock price over the next 12 months, with investors potentially finding more attractive buying opportunities post-IPO.
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- Record IPO Valuation: SpaceX's IPO is priced at $135 per share, leading to an expected market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, marking the largest IPO in history; however, its valuation exceeds 90 times sales, indicating significant overvaluation risks.
- Historical Performance Warning: Historical data shows that the 10 largest U.S. IPO stocks have underperformed the S&P 500 by 96 percentage points since their listings, suggesting that investors might be better off investing in an S&P 500 index fund rather than participating in SpaceX's IPO.
- Strong Market Demand: While investment banks report immense demand for SpaceX's IPO, Morningstar analysts estimate its fair value at only $780 billion, implying a 56% downside from the IPO valuation of $1.77 trillion, necessitating caution among investors.
- Investor Strategy Recommendation: Although SpaceX's IPO may initially perform well, historical trends indicate it may underperform the S&P 500 in the long run, prompting a recommendation for investors to consider the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF for more stable returns.
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