SpaceX (SPCX) shares surged approximately 9% on Wednesday, driven by a successful Starlink satellite launch, an updated bullish assessment from Morgan Stanley, and the release of Grok 4.6 by SpaceXAI. SPCX traded near $145.87, up from Tuesday's close of $133.29, reclaiming ground above the company's $135 IPO price.

The rally follows a turbulent stretch for Elon Musk's newly public company. SpaceX debuted on the public markets on June 12 at $135 per share, climbed to higher levels in subsequent sessions, and then slipped below its offering price before Wednesday's recovery. The decline had placed SPCX among several high-profile 2026 listings experiencing post-IPO volatility, a pattern often amplified as insider lock-up restrictions — typically preventing early investors and employees from selling for 90 to 180 days after debut — approach expiration. Investor focus has now shifted back to Starlink's accelerating growth and SpaceX's expanding artificial intelligence operations.

Starlink Launch Adds 24 Satellites as Subscriber Base Doubles

SpaceX successfully deployed 24 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. Designated Starlink 17-49, the mission marked the company's 51st West Coast flight of 2026. Booster B1103 completed its fifth flight before landing on the "Of Course I Still Love You" droneship stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

Starlink continues to serve as a core revenue driver for SpaceX. The satellite internet service reached approximately 12 million subscribers at the end of the second quarter, double the figure reported one year earlier. Connectivity revenue totaled roughly $4.3 billion during Q2 as the company expanded its customer base across consumer, enterprise, and government segments. That scale places Starlink well ahead of competing satellite internet efforts, including Amazon's Project Kuiper, which remains in earlier deployment stages, and Eutelsat OneWeb, which has focused primarily on enterprise and government customers rather than direct consumer service.

The latest satellite deployment increases network capacity as SpaceX maintains an aggressive Falcon 9 launch cadence. Starlink has also broadened its offerings into airline connectivity and direct-to-cell services, diversifying the range of customers relying on the satellite network.

Morgan Stanley Reiterates Overweight Rating with $300 Target and $600 Bull Case

Morgan Stanley reaffirmed its Overweight rating on SpaceX and maintained a $300 base price target. Analyst Adam Jonas also presented a "bull case" scenario of $600 per share, contingent on several long-term assumptions involving orbital AI computing, Starlink network expansion, and the Starship program.

The firm contends that investors may be undervaluing SpaceX's AI operations. Morgan Stanley estimates the market is currently pricing the company's AI business at approximately $12 per share and expects ongoing development of Grok and other AI products to materially affect that valuation over time.

The $600 figure represents an upside scenario rather than Morgan Stanley's primary target. That projection assumes SpaceX can scale orbital AI computing at reduced costs while extending Starlink connectivity to a substantially larger number of devices. Morgan Stanley's official base price target remains $300.

$SPCX – MORGAN STANLEY: SPACEX LOCK-UP IS A BUYING OPPORTUNITY

Morgan Stanley reiterated Overweight on $SPCX with a $300 price target and $600 bull case.

Analyst Adam Jonas argues the market is undervaluing SpaceX's broader AI platform, including its compute, connectivity and…

— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) August 12, 2026

Grok 4.6 Launch Strengthens SpaceX AI Portfolio

SpaceXAI released Grok 4.6 on Wednesday, focusing on long-running AI agents, coding, research, and interactive projects. The model scored 61 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, matching GPT-5.6 Sol Max on the benchmark published alongside the release.

On GDPVal-AA v2, Grok 4.6 recorded a score of 1,753 compared with 1,728 for GPT-5.6 Sol Max. On CursorBench v3.2, Grok 4.6 achieved 69.9% versus 67.2% for the competing model. GPT-5.6 Sol Max retained an edge on DeepSWE v1.1 and Terminal-Bench v3.0. The results place SpaceXAI's model alongside offerings from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic at the top of current AI benchmarks, a positioning that bears directly on Morgan Stanley's argument that the market is underpricing SpaceX's AI division.

Grok 4.6 is accessible through Grok Build, Cursor, the SpaceXAI API, and several partner platforms. API pricing begins at $2 per million input tokens and $6 per million output tokens.

Three Catalysts Combine to Lift SPCX

The combination of the latest Starlink launch, Morgan Stanley's renewed AI valuation framework, and the Grok 4.6 release has given investors three distinct catalysts, helping SPCX shares climb back above their June IPO price. Upcoming reference points for the stock include Starship test flight milestones, the next quarterly earnings report with updated Starlink subscriber and revenue figures, and the timeline for post-IPO lock-up expiration.