SpaceX’s Public Debut: What $1,000 Buys in the Rocket Company’s Shares

Key Points

Where does the time go? In some ways, given the inevitable hype surrounding its initial public offering (IPO) and subsequent stock market launch, it’s hard to believe that Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX) – SpaceX – has been publicly traded for more than half a month.

Now that the heat and noise from takeoff have dissipated somewhat, let’s take a look at where the stock and company stand now and whether it’s an attractive portfolio addition within reach of the average investor.

Image source: Getty Images.

Holding a half-dozen

With $1,000, at SpaceX’s closing price earlier this week you could purchase roughly six shares, leaving a modest amount of cash on the table. The central question, of course, is whether you would want to own those shares.

Six shares represent a tiny slice of a sprawling enterprise that extends beyond space exploration. The company also builds data centers, operates a satellite broadband network (Starlink), runs the social platform X (formerly Twitter), and develops artificial‑intelligence models. This broad scope mirrors the often‑temperamental vision of founder, CEO and chief cheerleader Elon Musk.

Only one segment – connectivity, which houses Starlink – currently generates profit. In 2025 the unit reported about $11.4 billion in revenue and $4.4 billion in operating profit, serving a global market for high‑speed internet access.

The other two divisions are loss‑making. The capital‑intensive space‑exploration business produced roughly $4.1 billion in revenue but posted an operating loss of $657 million. The AI unit, while earning $3.2 billion in revenue, incurred an operating loss of nearly $6.4 billion as it pours money into next‑generation data centers.

Consolidated, SpaceX earned just under $18.7 billion in revenue in 2025, yet finished the year with a net loss exceeding $4.9 billion.

Big spender

It is common for early‑stage companies to show sizable operating or net losses while they expand capacity and scale. Investors should keep this pattern in mind when evaluating SpaceX.

Despite Starlink’s robust performance and a recent $1.25 billion‑per‑month agreement to supply AI processing power to Anthropic, SpaceX is expected to maintain substantial capital expenditures for the foreseeable future. The magnitude of these outlays may test investor patience, prompting many to adopt a cautious stance.

Given these dynamics, I would prefer to remain on the sidelines for now.

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