Stone Fox Capital
Founder, CIO & Portfolio Manager of Stone Fox Capital
A SpaceX acquisition of Tesla now seems very likely, at over $500 per share within the next 12 months. Investors are also bullish on robots and robotaxis, so Tesla's fundamentals and valuation do not seem to matter now and have not for some time. x.com
SpaceX will acquire Tesla at a premium, making Tesla preferable to SpaceX before the merger announcement. x.com
Rivian's R2 is going to flop, because once a carmaker goes low cost it is game over. Rivian is burning massive cash while the auto market weakens fast on rates and inflation, and its $21B market cap should be closer to Lucid's. x.com
A Tesla-SpaceX merger would unite an unrivalled mix of space, AI, Optimus, connectivity, Cybercab, Roadster, robotaxis and bitcoin into a $100T company in the making. Their combined 30,221 bitcoin would make them the sixth-largest corporate holder. The deal would be welcome only at an attractive price for Tesla shareholders: at least three SpaceX shares per Tesla share, or no deal. x.com x.com
SpaceX's near-term earnings growth and potentially underappreciated compute ramp favor it over Tesla if their merger takes longer. SpaceX could exceed $200 by Q4 earnings; if the deal is announced within roughly a month, Tesla is the better trade because SpaceX would have to pay a premium of $420-$500+ a share. Tesla's robotaxi and humanoid earnings impact is still many quarters away, though both companies have longer-term upside. x.com x.com
Rivian has yet to prove it can build cars profitably, and its self-driving effort is far more than two years behind Tesla's, a total dealbreaker. That rebuts @calistoker123's case that R2 is the second-best US EV and that Rivian, at a $23 billion market cap, could deserve $100 billion if it executes on R2, R3 and self-driving. x.com
Keeping Tesla separate from SpaceX looks better for long-term shareholders because standalone businesses can receive more valuation credit. Tesla's stock trades on FSD and Robotaxi uptake and Optimus's intrinsic value, not Model Y sales or EV demand. Musk announced a committee to explore a merger, with a rumored $550-a-share takeout that would bring a quick pop. The chart targets $395, then $405, and $550 after a close above $440. x.com
Tesla and SpaceX are both worth owning because Tesla will merge with SpaceX in 2027. Kalshi puts the odds of a merger before 2028 at 60%, after President Trump called Musk one of the greatest tech founders. x.com
Rivian is next in line for trouble once investors stop funding its cash-burning business. Lucid's stock fell 48% to an all-time low after a report that it is considering going private or filing for Chapter 11; Lucid had not commented. x.com
Demand for a single way to invest in Musk's vision supports the case for a Tesla-SpaceX merger. Most investors spoken with want that option; the merger looks much closer than most expect, and Kalshi puts its chance before 2028 at 77%. If forced to own one of the two with a merger in prospect, SpaceX is preferable to Tesla because of Musk's ownership structure. x.com x.com