❯ SpaceX stock rises 7.6% in a day to its highest since mid-June, returning Musk to trillionaire status

Up 7.6%SpaceX shares closed up 7.6% on October 5 at their highest level since mid-June. According to CNBC, as relayed by Techmeme, the immediate cause was Morgan Stanley calling the stock “cheap,” which also returned Elon Musk to trillionaire status.

A roller coaster since listingSpaceX listed on Nasdaq on June 12 this year at $135 a share, raising $86 billion in the largest IPO ever. It closed its first day at $161 with a market value of about $2.1 trillion, briefly making Musk the world’s first trillionaire. By late July the shares had fallen about 50% from their peak. He controlled about 42% of shares after the IPO.

AI as a reason for the valuationMorgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas has a $300 price target. SpaceX acquired xAI in February, and its AI unit now rents compute to outside customers including Anthropic. Investors valuing the company now have to count this AI business alongside rockets and Starlink.

One company, three businessesVery little of SpaceX’s stock trades freely, with only about 5% floated at the IPO, which amplifies price swings. It is at once a space company, a satellite operator and a compute lessor, and conclusions differ widely depending on which valuation method an analyst applies, one reason the shares move so sharply.

▮ SIGNALA rocket company’s share price now needs its AI business to explain it, which shows markets are ready to reprice any asset that can be tied to AI demand.