How SpaceX stacks up against some of the biggest US IPOs

By Shashwat Chauhan

May ‌15 (Reuters) - SpaceX ​is ​targeting a valuation of roughly $1.75 trillion in its upcoming initial public offering, in what could ‌be the biggest-ever stock market debut by ⁠a U.S. company on Wall Street.

The listing of Elon Musk-led ‌SpaceX could easily dwarf many ‌of the biggest U.S. IPOs on record, including those of Alibaba, Visa and Facebook, now Meta ​Platforms, which analysts say reflects high growth expectations from the rocket and satellite company that it ⁠may struggle to meet.

The charts below compare SpaceX with high-profile market debuts ​of the past on valuation and fundamentals.

Some of these companies entered public markets with ​larger revenue bases and clearer ‌profit profiles. Analysts say SpaceX's proposed valuation reflects in part how much investors are ⁠being asked to pay for future growth.

"All of these companies have had a compelling story for why rapid growth ⁠and big future profits might happen. But when a company ​goes public at such a high valuation, lots of things have to go right," said Jay Ritter, a University of ‌Florida professor who tracks U.S. IPOs.

"Revenue has to grow enormously, and costs have to ‌grow more slowly. Most of the time, things ⁠don't go according to ‌plan."

(Reporting by Shashwat ​Chauhan in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Johann M Cherian, editing by Colin Barr and Shinjini ‌Ganguli)

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