Just three trading sessions after its historic initial public offering, SpaceX has overtaken Amazon to become the world's fifth most valuable publicly traded company. The Elon Musk-led conglomerate ended Tuesday with a market capitalisation of approximately $2.65 trillion (€2.28 trillion), briefly surpassing Microsoft during intraday trading before settling back.
The stock closed at $201.8 per share, more than 50% above its IPO price of $135. At its peak, shares hit $225.6, pushing SpaceX's valuation above $3 trillion (€2.58 trillion) and momentarily ahead of Microsoft as the fourth most valuable company globally. The milestone caps a remarkable debut week that has reshuffled the upper echelons of global equity markets.
SpaceX listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX last Friday, pricing 555.6 million Class A shares at $135 each. The IPO raised approximately $75 billion (€65 billion), making it the largest in history—comfortably eclipsing the $29.4 billion (€25.3 billion) that Saudi Aramco raised in 2019. Underwriters exercised the "greenshoe" option on Monday due to exceptional demand, increasing total capital raised to $85.7 billion (€73.8 billion).
The Cursor Deal Fuels the Surge
Tuesday's advance coincided with a significant strategic move. Before the opening bell, SpaceX announced an all-stock agreement to acquire Anysphere, the developer behind the AI coding assistant Cursor, in a deal valuing the startup at $60 billion (€51.7 billion). According to a regulatory filing, a SpaceX subsidiary will merge into Anysphere, leaving Cursor as a wholly owned arm of the group. Completion is expected in the third quarter, subject to regulatory approval.
The acquisition deepens SpaceX's push into enterprise AI, a market where rivals such as OpenAI and Anthropic have gained early commercial traction. It follows the company's merger with Musk's xAI venture in February. The deal stems from an option SpaceX secured in April, under which it agreed either to acquire Cursor for $60 billion later this year or pay $10 billion (€8.6 billion) for a more limited partnership to access its computing technology.
Based on Tuesday's closing prices, only Nvidia ($5 trillion), Alphabet ($4.5 trillion), Apple ($4.4 trillion), and Microsoft ($2.9 trillion) had larger market capitalisations than SpaceX. Eight of the world's ten most valuable listed companies are tied to the technology and AI sector, a concentration that has defined markets throughout 2026.
For European investors, the SpaceX IPO represents both opportunity and risk. As we previously noted, the company's valuation hinges on future revenue from Starlink, Starship, and AI ventures—none of which have yet turned a profit. Sceptics argue that SpaceX remains overvalued, given that only 3% to 4% of its total equity is publicly traded. A fast-track route into major stock indices, which compels passive funds to buy the shares, is expected to further amplify demand for the limited supply of shares in the opening days of trading.
The broader implications for Europe are significant. SpaceX's dominance in satellite internet and space launch services challenges European players like Arianespace and OneWeb. Meanwhile, the company's AI ambitions could reshape the competitive landscape for European tech startups. As we argued, this IPO marks a new era of capitalist space exploration, one that European policymakers must reckon with.
Despite the euphoria, caution is warranted. The speed of SpaceX's climb has drawn warnings from analysts who point to the company's lack of profitability and the thin float of publicly traded shares. Yet for now, the market's appetite shows no sign of abating.
