CNBC’s Jim Cramer is cautious about SpaceX’s upcoming initial public offering, but points to three near-term triggers that could significantly improve the investment case.
“Purely by the numbers, it’s very hard to justify giving SpaceX a $2 trillion valuation,” the “Mad Money” host said, referring to the reported valuation target.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to begin trading on June 12 and released its IPO prospectus last week. The filing reveals that the company is making huge losses on less than $20 billion in annual revenue as it invests heavily in artificial intelligence infrastructure and the Starship rocket program.
“At $2 trillion, SpaceX would be trading at about 100 times 12-month sales, which is very expensive,” Cramer said.
When determining whether the company deserves this high valuation, Kramer said investors should focus on near-term developments that could improve growth and profitability.
Kramer said the first catalyst will be SpaceX’s next-generation reusable rocket, Starship. The company completed Starship’s 12th test on Friday. There were no people or luggage for customers. However, SpaceX said in its prospectus that it expects Starship to begin delivering payloads in late 2026.
“If SpaceX can indeed meet that deadline, it would be a huge boon to the slowing space sector,” he said.
Kramer also highlighted SpaceX’s new computing deal with AI startup Anthropic. Under the deal, Anthropic will pay SpaceX about $1.25 billion a month through 2029 to lease computing power from SpaceX’s Memphis data center.
“A deal with humanity alone could dramatically change the economics of the AI sector, turning it from a gold mine to a moneymaker,” Kramer said. Last year, the AI sector generated just $3.2 billion in revenue, but it could soon add $15 billion in annual revenue.
The third thing Cramer should keep an eye on is SpaceX’s deal with AI coding startup Cursor. SpaceX said the partnership will combine Cursor’s coding tools with SpaceX’s computing infrastructure to improve AI products such as Grok and potentially develop new enterprise products. The agreement also gives SpaceX an option to acquire Cursor for $60 billion later this year.
A potential acquisition of Cursor “would elevate xAI’s standing among the major AI labs,” Cramer argued.
Even with that opportunity, Kramer said investors must remain disciplined amid the excitement surrounding IPOs. He urged investors to weigh SpaceX’s current fundamentals, realistic near-term opportunity, and valuation before jumping into the stock.
“Historically, betting against Elon Musk rarely pays off, but at the same time, SpaceX is far from perfect and its stock price will almost certainly be higher,” he said. “Even if you want to own it, you might not want to buy it right away. But it depends on the transaction price.”
