Space stocks surged on Monday after Elon Musk, the CEO and co-founder of SpaceX, said the firm’s long-awaited public debut plans needed to move forward. The aerospace firm has accelerated its initial public offering (IPO) timeline and is now targeting a June 12, 2026, market debut.
Claim 55% Off TipRanks
New trading tool for FLY bullsThe timeline moved up by nearly two weeks after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finished its review of SpaceX’s secret April filing faster than expected.
SpaceX IPO Buzz Sends Space Stocks Soaring
Speaking at the Samson Smart Mobility Summit in Tel Aviv, Musk said he was focusing on SpaceX IPO work. He told the summit audience that the firm needed to get its plans moving “pretty soon.”
Following his remarks, space stocks surged in premarket trading. Satellite broadband firm EchoStar (SATS) rose 6.3%, Launch firm Rocket Lab (RKLB) went up 3.4%, while AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) gained 2%.
Other space-related stocks also surged, with Viasat (VSAT) up 1.4%, Firefly Aerospace (FLY) gaining 3.9%, and York Space Systems (YSS) rising 6.5%. The gains followed a similar rally in space stocks in late March, when SpaceX first confirmed its IPO plans.
Musk’s update renewed investors’ focus on what could become the largest IPO in history, with the firm aiming to raise $75 billion. SpaceX is also targeting a Nasdaq (NDAQ) listing under the ticker “SPCX,” with BlackRock (BLK) reportedly in talks to anchor the deal with an investment of up to $10 billion.
Valuation Expert Questions SpaceX’s $1.75 Trillion IPO Target
Aswath Damodaran, a finance professor at New York University known as the “Dean of Valuation,” recently assessed SpaceX’s worth using publicly available data. Across the firm’s three units, launch services, Starlink, and an AI lab, he sees its future revenue reaching $320 billion.
However, Damodaran puts SpaceX’s value at $1.22 trillion, which is below the estimated $1.75 trillion IPO target. He added that details still missing from the public IPO filing are unlikely to affect his valuation, since it’s largely tied to the firm’s future earnings potential.
Damodaran notes the gap is not impossible to justify, given that the downside risk appears smaller than the upside. However, he flags the AI unit as a weak link, noting SpaceX holds no clear edge there against larger rivals.
He also warns that early pre-IPO investors such as Alphabet (GOOGL) and Amazon (AMZN) could sell their stakes once the IPO lock-up period ends. Damodaran said this could put heavy selling pressure on SpaceX stock, given that only about 4% of shares will be offered in the IPO itself.
Can I Buy SpaceX Stocks?
As of May 2026, SpaceX remains a private company, though it is set to make its public market debut in June this year. In the meantime, those looking to buy aerospace and defense stocks may consider publicly traded options like Boeing (BA) and Howmet Aerospace (HWM). Wall Street analysts tracked on the TipRanks Stock Comparison Center rate both stocks as Strong Buys.
