SpaceX has drawn $150 billion (about 234 trillion won) in investment, twice its target, during the early stages of subscription for its initial public offering (IPO). However, analysts expect it will take at least two years for the company to be included in the S&P 500, the benchmark index of the U.S. stock market, after its listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
According to Reuters on Thursday, SpaceX received about $150 billion (about 234 trillion won) in subscriptions during its ongoing institutional book-building. That is twice the target of $75 billion (about 117 trillion won). The offering price was estimated at around $135 per share (about 210,000 won). SpaceX plans to close subscriptions for institutional and individual investors by the 10th and finalize the offering price next week.
While the subscription was underway, SpaceX disclosed that it had secured Google as a cloud customer, following Anthropic. Reuters reported that the two customers together represent $70 billion in revenue. The market assessed the news as partly easing concerns about SpaceX's revenue concentration in Starlink.
However, inclusion in the S&P 500, the benchmark U.S. index, after the listing on the 12th is expected only after 2028. This is because the S&P Dow Jones Indices' index committee decided, after a month of gathering opinions, not to ease its "profitable company" requirement. It maintained the rule requiring net profit over the most recent year, including the immediately preceding quarter. Evercore ISI expects SpaceX to post an annual profit only in 2027.
Instead, SpaceX will be included in other indexes such as the Nasdaq 100 later this month. Nasdaq changed its rules to shorten the waiting period for inclusion from a minimum of three months to 15 trading days. FTSE Russell also shortened its waiting period to five trading days. Bloomberg estimated that a fast-track inclusion would trigger forced buying of more than about $14 billion (about 22 trillion won) in passive funds, which invest according to market capitalization rankings. However, since funds tracking the S&P 500 are at least four times larger than those tracking the Nasdaq 100, there could be some impact on supporting the stock price.
Anthropic and OpenAI are also considering IPOs within the year. Both companies are expected to be valued at more than $1 trillion when listed. However, like SpaceX, index inclusion is likely to take considerable time. Although their revenue is growing rapidly, turning a profit is not easy due to massive investment costs. Anthropic's operating profit for the June quarter is expected to reach $559 million (about 872 billion won). However, with rising spending on computing resources and other items, profit in future quarters is difficult to guarantee. OpenAI is also expected to find profit elusive for the coming years.
