How SpaceX stacks up against some of the biggest U.S. IPOs

A SpaceX logo is displayed on a building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

SpaceX is targeting a valuation of roughly US$1.75 trillion in its upcoming initial public offering, in what could be the biggest-ever stock market debut by a U.S. company on Wall Street.

The listing of Elon Musk-led SpaceX could easily dwarf many of the biggest U.S. IPOs on record, including those of Alibaba, Visa and Facebook, now Meta Platforms, which analysts say reflects high growth expectations from the rocket and satellite company that it may struggle to meet.

The charts below compare SpaceX with high-profile market debuts of the past on valuation and fundamentals.

Some of these companies entered public markets with larger revenue bases and clearer profit profiles. Analysts say SpaceX’s proposed valuation reflects in part how much investors are being asked to pay for future growth.

“All of these companies have had a compelling story for why rapid growth and big future profits might happen. But when a company goes public at such a high valuation, lots of things have to go right,” said Jay Ritter, a University of Florida professor who tracks U.S. IPOs.

“Revenue has to grow enormously, and costs have to grow more slowly. Most of the time, things don’t go according to plan.”

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Johann M Cherian, editing by Colin Barr and Shinjini Ganguli)