SpaceX IPO roadshow begins as S&P 500 blocks early index entry and China access is restricted

The roadshow begins

SpaceX launched the marketing roadshow for its initial public offering on Thursday in New York, with the company telling banks it is set on a $135-a-share price. The deal aims to raise $75 billion at a $1.75 trillion valuation, which would immediately make it one of the ten most valuable U.S.-listed firms. Three sources familiar with the roadshow described demand as insatiable, with analysts fielding as many as 20 calls a day from investors, above the 10 to 15 typically seen on in-demand offerings. The trading debut is expected on Friday, June 12.

SpaceX told banks in its $75 billion initial public offering that it is set on the $135-a-share price that the firm disclosed on Wednesday in its amended IPO filing.

S&P 500 says no to fast entry

S&P Global announced on Thursday that it was not changing the requirements for entry into its major indices, effectively ruling out a swift entry for SpaceX into the benchmark S&P 500 index. The index provider said exceptions to the financial viability, seasoning, and investable weight factor requirements should not be granted solely based on market capitalization. To be included in the S&P 500, a company must be profitable under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in its most recent quarter as well as for the sum of its most recent four quarters. SpaceX posted a net loss of $4.94 billion in 2025, even as revenue rose 33% to $18.67 billion.

It speaks highly of the credibility of S&P Dow Jones Indices to be rules-based and make sure there's profitability before entrance to the index.

Rival indexes open the door

Nasdaq and FTSE Russell have already changed their rules to allow SpaceX to join their indices much sooner. The Nasdaq 100 will permit entry after just 15 trading days, while FTSE Russell reduced its requirement to five trading days. Nasdaq 100 index funds will be forced to buy a sizeable portion of publicly available SpaceX shares when the company joins that index. The S&P's decision to buck this trend surprised market observers.

I am genuinely surprised. But S&P is the market leader and they can buck the trend.

China and Hong Kong blocked

SpaceX's website and IPO marketing documents were not accessible on Friday in Hong Kong and mainland China, a Reuters review showed. An "Error 1009" message was displayed in response to access attempts, which web security provider Cloudflare said typically means the website owner has banned the country or region of the related IP address. Bloomberg News reported that lead banks managing the offering instructed underwriting syndicate members not to accept orders from customers in China and Hong Kong, including private banking clients, due to regulatory and compliance concerns. Foreign investment is tightly restricted or off-limits in China's space sector, which is heavily regulated by the country's military.

Analyst caution on valuation

Research firm Morningstar called the company significantly overvalued, rating its true valuation at $780 billion and saying the IPO does not offer the best entry point for retail investors. Analysts see xAI as a potential anchor on the profitable divisions like Starlink due to heavy competition from OpenAI, Gemini and Anthropic. The S&P 500's decision means SpaceX must wait at least 12 months before being considered for addition to the index, and must also demonstrate profitability over its four most recent quarters.