For creators and engineers, the latest market moves from SpaceX signal a shift where speculative capital is flowing aggressively into artificial intelligence ambitions, even as traditional profitability metrics lag. The company’s stock briefly surged past Amazon to claim the fifth spot globally, only to retreat before the final bell on Tuesday.
A volatile debut driven by AI promises
The newly public entity saw its shares climb 20% on Monday, marking its first full day of trading. Further excitement arrived on Tuesday with news that SpaceX was acquiring AI coding firm Cursor and the commencement of options trading. These factors pushed the valuation to $2.9 trillion before the price corrected.
This valuation surge occurs despite stark financial contrasts with its peers. SpaceX reported a $4.9 billion loss against $18.7 billion in revenue last year. In comparison, Amazon generated a $78 billion profit on $717 billion in sales in 2025. However, SpaceX is diversifying through compute leasing agreements with Anthropic and Google. Additionally, it will absorb revenue from Cursor once that deal finalises in the third quarter.
Although the deals with Anthropic and Google remain non-binding, investors appear unfazed. Since going public on Friday, Elon Musk’s space and AI conglomerate has added approximately $1 trillion to its worth. This transaction secured nearly $86 billion in fresh capital, predicated on the assertion that the company can build an AI business worth trillions—a bold claim given that the firm recently dismantled its previous AI division.
The Cursor acquisition
SpaceX first announced a partnership with Cursor in April. At that time, Musk stated that his AI unit, xAI, which is now integrated into SpaceX, “was not built right [the] first time around” and was being rebuilt “from the foundations up.” The acquisition of Cursor is being funded with $60 billion in company shares.
SpaceX’s initial public offering debuted at a valuation of roughly $1.7 trillion, raising nearly $86 billion. Crucially, only about 4% of total shares were made available for trading. Analysts warned this limited float would increase susceptibility to wild price swings.
That prediction held true on Tuesday, as traders exchanged more than 300 million shares during the session. This volume represented over half of the 555 million shares available on the public market post-IPO, according to Nasdaq data. The volatility persisted into after-hours trading, where the valuation briefly surpassed Amazon’s market capitalisation for a second time before falling again.
Key takeaways
- SpaceX’s valuation briefly exceeded $2.9 trillion, overtaking Amazon before correcting, driven by the Cursor acquisition and options trading.
- Despite posting a $4.9 billion loss last year, the company is betting on future AI revenue streams to justify its massive market worth.
- Limited share availability (4% float) has created extreme trading volatility, with over 300 million shares changing hands in a single day.
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