Post its market debut, Elon Musk-led SpaceX has now created another first by turning to the bond market, capitalizing on a post-IPO momentum that has vaulted its cash reserves past USD 100 billion as the rockets-to-AI group ramps up spending on its future projects.
SpaceX’s bond market pivot, as per the analysts, also signals the Musk-led company’s push to reshape its balance sheet by replacing short-term bridge financing with longer-dated debt, which can help it fund the business’ ambitious and costly expansion into AI and next-generation rockets.
SpaceX listed on the Nasdaq on June 12 after raising USD 85.7 billion from its IPO, making it one of the world’s most valuable companies. While Musk became the world’s first trillionaire with the company’s blockbuster market debut, things have spiraled since then. As of 23rd June, shares in the rockets-to-AI group are set to drop around 3% at market open, marking a fourth consecutive day of losses for the stock after booming more than 50% in its first few days of trading.
SpaceX, which trades under the ticker SPCX, has also announced that investors underwriting the IPO would be able to buy an extra USD 10 billion of stock, boosting the total raised to over USD 85 billion.
On the day (June 12) of SpaceX’s IPO, the company had a valuation of around USD 1.8 trillion. That valuation then surged, briefly exceeded USD 2.7 trillion, and made SpaceX more valuable than both Microsoft and Amazon. On June 16, the company closed with a market capitalization of USD 2.4 trillion. However, given the ongoing trajectory of the stock slide, the company’s market cap on Tuesday (June 23), as per the calculations of Business Insider, would be USD 1.96 trillion, roughly USD 160 billion above its opening valuation.
SpaceX’s fall is part of a broader market sell-off that saw the tech-heavy Nasdaq index drop 1.3% on Monday (June 22), with futures pointing to a fall of more than 2.5% at Tuesday’s open. While Musk’s net worth too has fallen to USD 350 billion, wiping off the status of “world’s first trillionaire,” the tech maverick still holds 82% of SpaceX’s voting power after the IPO.
“With Musk maintaining supermajority voting control through a dual-class structure, issuing bonds keeps economic ownership intact for existing shareholders without new share issuance. This debt choice over additional equity clearly prioritizes avoiding further shareholder dilution,” said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of 50 Park Investments, while interacting with Reuters.
SpaceX has increased spending on AI infrastructure and the development of its next-generation Starship rocket, investments that have weighed on the business’ profitability despite strong growth at its Starlink satellite internet business. In 2025, revenue rose 33% to USD 18.67 billion, despite reporting a net loss after heavy spending and the integration of Musk’s artificial intelligence (AI) venture, xAI.
“The proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes as well as to repay borrowings under its bridge loan facility and cover related fees and expenses,” SpaceX said without disclosing the size or pricing terms of the proposed bond notes’ offering. SpaceX, as of March 2026, held USD 15.9 billion in cash and cash equivalents.
Post its IPO, SpaceX signed a deal with Reflection AI in order to provide additional computing capacity to the startup at the rockets-to-AI group’s Colossus 2 data center.
Despite the stock market bleeding, credit rating agencies have assigned SpaceX investment-grade ratings, signaling confidence in the company’s financial stability. Moody’s, for example, has issued a “Baa1” rating, and Fitch a “BBB+” rating, indicating that SpaceX’s debt is considered investment grade and carries moderate credit risk with sufficient capacity to meet its financial commitments.