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5 Space Stocks Already Climbing Ahead of the SpaceX IPOBy Bridget Bennett. Date Posted: 4/14/2026. 
Key Points
- Rocket Lab and AST SpaceMobile are the two most-watched beneficiaries of a SpaceX IPO, with accelerating revenue growth and expanding launch backlogs that could attract fresh institutional capital once the space sector gets its benchmark public listing.
- Intuitive Machines stands closest to profitability among the five names, with 2026 revenue guidance of up to $1 billion and a backlog approaching $943 million anchored by NASA and defense contracts.
- Planet Labs and Redwire remain earlier-stage plays with longer runways to profitability, but both could benefit from the wave of institutional investment a SpaceX listing is expected to unlock across the broader space sector.
- Special Report: Have $500? Invest in Elon’s AI Masterplan
The most anticipated IPO in market history is no longer just speculation. SpaceX filed a confidential draft registration with the SEC on April 1, targeting a $1.75 trillion valuation and an approximately $75 billion raise that would dwarf Saudi Aramco's 2019 record. A June Nasdaq listing is the current timeline, and MarketBeat analyst Thomas Hughes sees the event as more than a single-stock story—it could be the catalyst that finally unlocks institutional-scale capital across the commercial space sector. Hughes notes SpaceX controls a large share of the global launch market, and nearly every company building satellite constellations, lunar infrastructure, or orbital manufacturing depends on its rockets. A successful public listing at this valuation would help legitimize commercial space as an investable asset class, and companies already positioned in the sector could benefit from the capital that follows.
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Here are five space stocks Hughes is watching ahead of that potential inflection point. Rocket Lab: The Second Mover With Accelerating MomentumRocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) is the closest thing SpaceX has to a domestic launch competitor. It remains a distant second in scale, but the gap in ambition is narrowing. Revenue reached $601.8 million in 2025, up nearly 38% year over year, while the company is accelerating launch cadence and developing the Neutron heavy-lift vehicle that would enable larger constellation deployments and potentially human spaceflight. Shares surged toward $100 in January before pulling back with the broader correction in speculative growth names and now trade around $70. Hughes views that pullback as the market establishing a higher support level rather than signaling a fundamental problem. The company is still unprofitable, but revenue growth and an expanding backlog suggest profitability could arrive within a year or two. Fifteen analysts rate the stock a consensus Buy with an average price target of $71. The main risk is valuation: at roughly 60 times trailing sales, the market is pricing in years of execution. Hughes argues the launch pace and the broader space investment thesis support a premium, particularly if a SpaceX IPO accelerates institutional appetite for the sector. AST SpaceMobile: Satellite 5G With a Massive Addressable MarketAST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) is attempting something no other company has achieved: a space-based cellular broadband network that works directly with standard, unmodified smartphones. The goal is global, uninterrupted 5G coverage, and AST is relying heavily on SpaceX launches to deploy its BlueBird satellite constellation. Revenue jumped from $4.4 million in 2024 to $70.9 million in 2025 as the company moved from testing into early commercialization. Losses widened to $342 million, but Hughes frames the current phase as a derisking stage: the technology has been demonstrated and satellites are launching. Major telecom providers, including TELUS (NYSE: TU), Orange (OTCMKTS: ORANY), and Vodafone (NASDAQ: VOD), have signed on. What remains is execution and time. AST shares reached an intraday high near $130 in January, plunged into the mid-$30s during the correction, and have since recovered to the high $90s. Hughes expects periodic pullbacks as the market recalibrates expectations but sees the trend moving higher as each launch and partnership announcement reduces risk. The biggest near-term threat would be delays in the constellation buildout. Intuitive Machines: Closest to Profitability With a Lunar EdgeIntuitive Machines (NASDAQ: LUNR) builds robots, landers, and infrastructure components for space, with a primary focus on the moon. Of the five names on this list, it may have the most compelling near-term financial story. Management guided revenue of $900 million to $1 billion for 2026, a large step up from the $210 million reported in 2025, driven by acquisitions, NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services contracts, and defense awards. The company also guided to positive adjusted EBITDA in 2026, which would make it one of the first non-SpaceX space companies to reach that milestone. A backlog approaching $943 million provides visibility, though revenue can be lumpy given the project-based nature of government contracts. Intuitive Machines is more than a moon play because of its service business. NASA contracts and defense engineering work generate steadier revenue streams than lunar landings alone, and the $4.8 billion Near Space Network contract awarded in 2024 runs through 2034. The stock trades around $24, near its 52-week high, after spending much of the past year in a sideways range. Hughes views the breakout as the market pricing in the profitability inflection. Planet Labs: Earth Imaging in a Space EconomyPlanet Labs (NYSE: PL) operates a constellation of Earth-imaging satellites and is evolving from a hardware company into a data-intelligence platform. Fiscal 2026 revenue reached $307.7 million, up 26% year over year, with Q4 revenue of $86.8 million, well above estimates. The link to SpaceX is straightforward: Planet Labs uses Falcon 9 rockets to launch its satellites. Each launch supports SpaceX's business model, and growth in satellite-based Earth observation adds to demand across the launch industry. Institutional investors own roughly 40% of the float and have been net buyers at better than a two-to-one pace, according to Hughes. The challenge is profitability: losses widened to $247 million in fiscal 2026, and the path to breakeven remains several years out. Hughes frames Planet Labs as a longer-term play where a SpaceX IPO could accelerate the timeline by drawing more capital into space infrastructure. Chart action has been strong, with shares reaching new 52-week intraday highs near $38 in recent sessions, but the stock trades at a premium that leaves limited room for execution missteps. Redwire: Orbital Manufacturing at the Earliest StageRedwire (NYSE: RDW) occupies a different corner of the space economy. The company builds space infrastructure, including deployable solar arrays, sensors, avionics, and in-space manufacturing facilities, and it is expanding a defense technology segment that includes autonomous systems and optical sensors. Revenue grew 10% to $335 million in 2025, but losses widened to $272 million and the profit margin sat at negative 67.5%. Of the five stocks, Hughes identifies Redwire as the weakest near-term play, with the longest runway to profitability. The chart reflects that assessment—the shares have struggled for over a year and currently trade around $9. The bull case rests on positioning: as more companies build satellites, infrastructure, and eventually in-space manufacturing capacity, they will need the components and superstructures Redwire provides. A SpaceX IPO that accelerates the broader buildout could pull Redwire's demand curve forward. Analysts' consensus rating is Strong Buy, with an average price target of $13.89, suggesting meaningful upside if the thesis plays out—but investors should expect volatility and require patience. The SpaceX Catalyst and What to WatchThe common thread across these five names is that SpaceX going public at a $1.75 trillion valuation would create a pricing benchmark for the entire commercial aerospace sector. It would validate commercial space as an institutional-grade asset class and could unlock capital flows that have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for this kind of signal. Hughes cautions that the SpaceX IPO itself may be volatile. He expects the offering to be oversubscribed, with potential for a sharp initial spike followed by a pullback as short sellers engage. For investors considering the five stocks on this list, the play is less about timing the IPO day and more about positioning ahead of a broader capital rotation into space. The names closest to profitability—Intuitive Machines and Rocket Lab—carry the least execution risk. AST SpaceMobile offers the highest-upside concept but depends on continued satellite deployment. Planet Labs and Redwire sit further out on the risk curve, with longer timelines to prove their financial models. Across the group, the setup is consistent: a sector that has often traded on speculation may be poised to receive the institutional validation that turns speculation into sustained investment. |
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