Here’s how Musk’s SpaceX is the most valuable aerospace company in the US
According to Bloomberg, SpaceX's valuation is close to 180 billion dollars: it is among the 75 largest companies in the world
SpaceX would be worth more than any other aerospace company in the United States, not only that, it is one of the 75 most valuable companies in the world.
This is what emerges from the reconstruction of Bloomberg News which, citing anonymous sources, reveals that the founder and CEO Elon Musk is in negotiations to sell between 500 and 750 million dollars of preferred shares of the SpaceX company, at around 95 dollars per share, which now it rose to $97 per share. A price increase that pushes the value of the space and satellite company close to 180 billion dollars.
The figures indicate that the private space giant, which has not yet announced plans to go public, is more valued than any IPO in US history, surpassing the valuation of Alibaba's $169 billion IPO in 2014, Fortune reports.
Closed-end companies use public offerings like this one to give employees the chance to unlock the value of their holdings in the run-up to an initial public offering. It also offers investors the chance to grab more capital. The terms and size of the takeover offer could change, the sources said.
According to Business Insider , the potential valuation would place SpaceX among the most valuable companies in the world, surpassing the likes of Comcast and Disney, both worth around $167 billion.
All the details.
HOW SPACEX'S VALUATION GROWS
SpaceX is looking to sell shares that imply a value for the company of about $180 billion, which is $30 billion more than its value in the summer.
In July, CNBC reported that SpaceX's valuation had reached nearly $150 billion following the announcement of a share sale by existing investors. Already the nearly $150 billion valuation ranked SpaceX as the most valuable aerospace company in the United States. Today, Boeing's market capitalization is just over $150 billion, while Raytheon's is around $116 billion, slightly higher than Lockheed Martin's at $112 billion.
Furthermore, the rising valuation illustrates strong investor demand for a stake in the dominant space transportation company and its Starlink satellite Internet service, Bloomberg comments.
LEADERSHIP IN THE SPACE LAUNCH SECTOR
SpaceX is a privately held company headquartered in Hawthorne, California and is a world leader in space exploration. The private company founded in 2002 by Elon Musk designs, produces and sends into orbit the most advanced space vehicles and modules.
Notably, the company has carved out a near-monopoly in the global rocket launch market, recording more than 90 successful launches of its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets this year — a record number for a U.S. commercial launch company.
THE NUMBERS
Last August the Wall Street Journal revealed that Elon Musk's aerospace company generated a profit of $55 million on revenue of $1.5 billion during the period from January to March. So, after two annual losses, SpaceX's growing revenue helped it turn a small profit in the first quarter of 2023.
Now SpaceX is on track to post revenues of about $9 billion this year through its rocket launch and Starlink businesses, Bloomberg News reported last month, with sales expected to rise to about $15 billion in 2024.
The Starlink satellite Internet business is the main driver of SpaceX's valuation, investors told the Wall Street Journal earlier this year.
THE STARLINK SPINOFF
The company is also discussing an initial public offering for Starlink, in an effort to capitalize on strong demand for space communications. Although the times are the subject of speculation: they range from the end of next year to 2027, Axios recalled last week.
THE INVESTMENT OF THE ITALIAN BANK INTESA SANPAOLO
According to Quartz , with Musk keeping financials and other information under wraps and providing details to the public via X, it's difficult to know whether SpaceX can "forecast" cash flow and profitability well enough to take Starlink public.
But this does not matter, because the money and the hype continue to arrive at the space company, highlights the American newspaper, adding that "even the largest Italian bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, wants to join", having bet an undisclosed sum in SpaceX last October . According to BeBeez , this investment could be worth 151.6 million dollars (141.7 million euros).
THE ADVANTAGE OVER RIVALS
Since 2019, Starlink has expanded its low Earth orbit network to over 5,000 satellites, quickly positioning itself as the largest satellite operator in the world and a rival to Viasat, OneWeb (just acquired by Eutelsat) and Amazon Kuiper (Read more here by Startmag : With Kuiper Amazon becomes the first space big tech).
So Starlink has a big lead over its rivals by owning more than half of the satellites now in space, it is racing toward CEO Elon Musk's ambitious goal of launching a "megaconstellation" of 42,000 satellites by next year.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/ecco-come-spacex-di-musk-e-la-societa-aerospaziale-piu-preziosa-negli-usa/ on Wed, 13 Dec 2023 13:09:52 +0000.