SpaceX, formally Space Exploration Technologies, listed on NASDAQ in June under the ticker SPCX. The stock opened near $150, reached about $200, fell to $110, and now trades just above $150. A $2,000 stake is unlikely to fund an early retirement quickly. At a $2 trillion valuation, a 10x gain would value SpaceX at $200 trillion, above the estimated $150 trillion global stock market. The writer suggests judging SpaceX by whether it can beat the S&P 500, which averages about 10% a year. Revenue grew 92% in the second quarter, driven by space exploration, artificial intelligence, and satellite internet. The company is not yet profitable, and may not be for some time.

SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) shares fell 2% to $153.5 on Wednesday morning, raising questions about whether its fast-growing businesses can support the company's valuation. Starlink, its satellite-broadband service, is the only profitable division. The AI business built around Grok grew 213% in the second quarter but remains unprofitable. Analysts expect 2027 revenue to reach $115 billion, up 155%. At the current share price, that values SpaceX at roughly 18 times projected sales, a multiple comparable to Nvidia's. The bigger uncertainty is whether SpaceX can turn its orbital data centre plans into a viable business before AI rivals gain ground or Starlink's customer growth cools.

SpaceX has capped its military-grade Starlink service in Ukraine, cutting the link on any terminal moving faster than 100 miles an hour (160 km/h), presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov said on Wednesday, October 14. He said the limit arrived overnight with no warning and disrupted several combat missions. SpaceX hasn't commented. The cap covers StarShield, the encrypted, government-grade version of Starlink, which the Pentagon pays for. Bloomberg reported in December 2024 that two US contracts covered 3,000 terminals in Ukraine. The money at stake is small. An earlier 500-terminal deal was worth about $40 million, against $12.98 billion in third-quarter revenue that Wall Street expects. The bigger risk is trust: the move could signal to governments that SpaceX can change terms mid-war.