SpaceX’s highly anticipated blockbuster initial public offering has reached a critical stage, attracting overwhelming investor interest while facing pointed doubts from a prominent short seller.
Citing anonymous sources, Reuters reports the offering has garnered over $250 billion in investor orders, making it 3.5 to 4 times oversubscribed. The company aims to raise at least $75 billion through the listing, easily surpassing Saudi Aramco’s $29.4 billion IPO, which long held the title of the world’s largest.
SpaceX has set a proposed IPO price of $135 per share, translating to a valuation of roughly $1.75 trillion. The final offering price will be finalized on June 11, and the stock is set to begin public trading on June 12. Underwriters also have access to a greenshoe option to purchase an additional $11.2 billion worth of shares. If fully exercised, the total capital raised from the IPO will top $86 billion.
Perpetual futures for SpaceX traded on crypto platforms currently sit around $162.50 per share, representing a roughly 20% premium to the planned issue price. Market watchers expect the stock to climb on its trading debut amid robust subscription demand, yet a skyrocketing rally is unlikely. The opening price will be determined via an auction on the first trading day. With unsuccessfully allocated investors rushing to buy and early subscribers looking to take profits, the stock is poised for sharp volatility in early sessions.
For all the frenzied buying interest, the massive valuation has come under fire from Jim Chanos, a well-known short seller. He argues the $1.75 trillion valuation is unjustified based on the company’s fundamentals over the next five years, saying the lofty price tag is largely built on market optimism around its Mars colonization and space development ambitions. Chanos highlighted a stark valuation gap: SpaceX trades at 90 times its sales, compared with Tesla’s 14 times sales multiple, stressing the two businesses operate on very different valuation metrics.
History shows shorting Tesla, another venture led by Elon Musk, has resulted in steep losses for bearish investors. Many short sellers are now taking a wait-and-see stance on SpaceX. A recent rally among trillion-dollar tech giants has also raised risks for anyone betting against large-cap tech names. Beyond SpaceX, Chanos voiced a bearish view on the data center sector, describing it as an unattractive business with low single-digit returns on capital.
As the listing draws near, SpaceX’s historic IPO stands at the center of a fierce bull-bear divide. It remains to be seen whether red-hot investor demand can sustain the stock long term and if its sky-high valuation will eventually be validated by real business performance.
