Staudinger
PhD Engineer, Former MIT Research Fellow, Space & Emerging-Tech Investor
A stronger SpaceX could lift the wider space-stock basket, including AST SpaceMobile, Rocket Lab, Redwire, Planet Labs, Intuitive Machines, Firefly Aerospace and Voyager Technologies. Per DeItaone, JPMorgan raised its SpaceX price target from $240 to $500 while maintaining Overweight. The seven space stocks rose alongside SpaceX after hours. Their initial post-IPO selloff was followed by macro-driven weakness, not further weakness caused by SpaceX. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Space stocks could regain high-beta flows as SpaceX lockups end and a probable late-November Anthropic IPO threatens AI stocks, much as SpaceX's IPO hurt space names. Hedge funds are overexposed to the Magnificent Seven and underexposed or max short low-quality high beta; falling rates and toppy oil could make the rotation painful for them through 2027. AST SpaceMobile could benefit as intermittent service triggers agreements and Blue Origin possibly returns to the pad in six weeks. x.com x.comÂ
The orbital economy is far too large for only SpaceX to win, making space stocks the easiest 100x opportunity yet. By 2050-2070, every business on Earth could have a counterpart in space; some public companies may fail, but the few winners could create enormous wealth. The easy money is over, so AST SpaceMobile, Firefly Aerospace, Rocket Lab, Planet Labs, Intuitive Machines, MDA Space and SpaceX belong in a separate retirement account that is never traded, not a price-action trade. x.comÂ
AST SpaceMobile's reliance on competitor SpaceX for satellite launches weakens its moat further. SpaceX has bought its own spectrum, raising competitive risk. Piper Sandler downgraded ASTS over the pace of 2026-27 launches and SpaceX's potential to limit launch availability or undercut service pricing, though the bank remains constructive beyond 2027. x.comÂ
JPMorgan's $500 SpaceX target looks a bit absurd because banks that profited from its IPO are pretty biased. The bank raised its December 2027 target from $240, though the bullish case is understandable. x.comÂ
AST SpaceMobile, Rocket Lab, Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines are about to get a nice boost from SpaceX raising its target IPO valuation above $2 trillion, per Bloomberg as cited by @KobeissiLetter. That valuation would make SpaceX bigger than all but five companies in the S&P 500. x.comÂ
AST SpaceMobile, Rocket Lab and other space stocks face being dragged toward zero by SpaceX's stock drop. With SpaceX valued above $1 trillion, it can buy them out with all-equity offers, the mega-cap way, and that is already happening. x.comÂ
SpaceX's competitive threat makes AST SpaceMobile less attractive at these levels than SpaceX and Rocket Lab. AST SpaceMobile's weekly chart shows a downtrend and strong outflows, though the stock is near marked support. x.comÂ
Listed space stocks such as Satellogic, BlackSky, Voyager, Redwire, Intuitive Machines, Planet Labs, AST SpaceMobile and Rocket Lab are the plays ahead of the SpaceX IPO. AST SpaceMobile and Rocket Lab are favorites and still look healthy on the charts despite recent pullbacks. @sunxliao notes the group ranges from about $0.7B to $39B in market cap versus a roughly $1.75 trillion SpaceX IPO valuation, a gap he expects to deliver big returns in coming months. x.comÂ
Rocket Lab still looks ridiculously expensive at 29 times forward sales against SpaceX at 22 times, even after a 65% fall. At 22 times, Rocket Lab would be roughly $38, and SpaceX would still be the pick. SpaceX also has better forward guidance; Rocket Lab's negative adjusted EBITDA makes sales multiples the valuation yardstick. x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
Space stocks such as Rocket Lab, Intuitive Machines, Firefly Aerospace and BlackSky move together because funds buy exposure to a narrative rather than single names. As with semiconductors, once the space theme gains traction, money flows into everything in that bucket. x.com x.comÂ
