Blog SpaceX Takes New Funding at $21B Valuation

[Grendal]

Strange concept, considering there is no set metric for "valuation" for a private company... so who's in charge of this mythical list of which SpaceX somehow belongs?

Typically private companies are ranked on their revenues, not their market cap - since such a metric is sketchy at best.

In 2006 Wikipedia took a shot at it and they pegged number 1 at 1.56 Trillion dollars. #1 was 140 billion. 11 years later I'm sure the entire list has moved way higher than that (after all, the #1 public company went from a valuation of $447M in 2006 [Exxon] to $617M in 2017 [Apple]). So I'm not sure how a mere $21B puts SpaceX "among the highest valued private companies in the world".

I realize these are our heroes, but we don't have to just make stuff up. They can stand on their own legs and achievements.

In the real world, you are absolutely correct. In Wall Street analysts and speculative "news" articles world then you can make sketchy guesswork assumptions. Luckily, it is a private company so sketchy guesswork has little effect on the more critical aspect of getting real things done. Happily, SpaceX is doing very well in the real world; no matter their real world or made up world valuation.

 

[strangethingintheland]

Strange concept, considering there is no set metric for "valuation" for a private company... so who's in charge of this mythical list of which SpaceX somehow belongs?

Typically private companies are ranked on their revenues, not their market cap - since such a metric is sketchy at best.

In 2006 Wikipedia took a shot at it and they pegged number 1 at 1.56 Trillion dollars. #1 was 140 billion. 11 years later I'm sure the entire list has moved way higher than that (after all, the #1 public company went from a valuation of $447M in 2006 [Exxon] to $617M in 2017 [Apple]). So I'm not sure how a mere $21B puts SpaceX "among the highest valued private companies in the world".

I realize these are our heroes, but we don't have to just make stuff up. They can stand on their own legs and achievements.

 

[strangethingintheland]

I think bcsteeve's point is correct. If I had to guess, the OP is comparing spacex to so-called unicorns, rather than simply all private companies. In that world of billion-dollar+ startups on their way to IPO or acquisition, spacex is among the most highly-valued (see also here). Now, one can debate which is the more appropriate comparison, but perhaps that is a post for someone else.

 

[bcsteeve]

Ahh, OK that makes sense and I suspect you're right. I'd also argue that would be the more appropriate comparison. Cheers.

 

[adiggs]

SpaceX has reportedly raised $350 million in new funding that would value the company at around $21 billion. It’s not apparent who was involved in the round, which places SpaceX among the highest valued private companies in the world. The rocket maker’s previous valuation in 2015 was $12 billion when it received $1 billion from...
[WPURI="https://teslamotorsclub.com/blog/2017/07/28/spacex-takes-new-funding-at-21b-valuation/"]READ FULL ARTICLE[/WPURI]

Is it just me, or does $350M seem like an awfully small funding round for such a high capitalization company? When I saw that number, my first thought is that the $350M is primarily liquidity for employees and other partial owners of the company to get some or all of their investment out of the company, rather than incremental capital for SpaceX.

And with 10 launches so far this year, and 10 more scheduled, it's not hard for me to imagine the company is somewhere between cash flow positive, and strongly cash flow positive.

 

[Cosmacelf]

SpaceX might be hurting for a bit of cash if for no other reason than their pad explosion last year which caused a lot of flights to be pushed back. Rebuilding the pad was probably also expensive. And it sounds like Falcon Heavy was a tad more complicated than originally envisioned.

But yeah, employee/shareholder liquidity isn't a bad guess for at least part of the money. Personally, if I had any SpaceX shares, I'd be letting them ride, but everyone has different priorities.

 

[bcsteeve]

If I said "let them ride to Mars" would that be too much?

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Strange concept, considering there is no set metric for "valuation" for a private company... so who's in charge of this mythical list of which SpaceX somehow belongs?

Typically private companies are ranked on their revenues, not their market cap - since such a metric is sketchy at best.

In 2006 Wikipedia took a shot at it and they pegged number 1 at 1.56 Trillion dollars. #10 was 140 billion. 11 years later I'm sure the entire list has moved way higher than that (after all, the #1 public company went from a valuation of $447M in 2006 [Exxon] to $617M in 2017 [Apple]). So I'm not sure how a mere $21B puts SpaceX "among the highest valued private companies in the world".

I realize these are our heroes, but we don't have to just make stuff up. They can stand on their own legs and achievements.

While the investment might value SpaceX at $21B (the math is easy: investment/share), SpaceX's revenue isn't even close.

A Quora list from 2016 has the largest private company by revenue being Cargill, at $134.9B/yr and Mars (coincidentally) at number 10 at $33B/yr. Even $33B would be an awful lot of launches.

 

[jkn]

And with 10 launches so far this year, and 10 more scheduled, it's not hard for me to imagine the company is somewhere between cash flow positive, and strongly cash flow positive.

They have been fixing a launch pad and building another (Texas). They are developing new engine (Raptor). They are developing new, easier to reuse, version of F9 and Falcon heavy and BFR,...

SpaceX has captured about 45% of commercial launches with lower prices, even more in 2018. So they don't earn so much. One Chart Shows How Much SpaceX Has Come to Dominate Rocket Launches

SpaceX has best launcher. Should they continue development or stop and let others catch up?

 

[Lump]

SEC FORM D