Cathie Wood Says SpaceX Could Become History’s Most Important Company as Stock Falls
Key Takeaways
- •SpaceX shares recently traded near $117, falling roughly 5% and dropping below the $135 IPO price to reach their lowest level since listing.
- •A planned $116 billion share unlock could introduce additional selling pressure as insiders and early investors gain the ability to trade freely.
- •ARK Invest has allocated approximately $80 million to SpaceX, with CEO Cathie Wood reiterating a long-term bullish outlook and calling the company potentially the most important in global history.
- •SpaceX is preparing a large-scale data center in Texas that could match or exceed its Memphis facilities, which currently provide around 1 gigawatt of computing capacity.
- •The company has signed AI computing deals with Anthropic and Google, broadening its revenue streams beyond launch operations and satellite communications.
SpaceX stock has dropped to its lowest level since going public, while ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood continues to defend her fund's position as the company moves further into AI infrastructure.
SpaceX Stock Drops Below IPO Price
SpaceX shares recently traded about 5% lower near $117, falling below the $135 IPO price and reaching their lowest level since listing. The decline extended a steep pullback from earlier highs, with the company losing more than $1 trillion in market value over the past month.
Source: CoinCodex
The sell-off has brought SpaceX under closer investor scrutiny as markets evaluate its valuation, planned share unlocks, and expansion strategy. Reports have also cited a planned $116 billion share unlock, which could create additional pressure if early holders choose to sell. Share unlock periods, common after a public debut, typically give insiders and early investors their first opportunity to trade freely, and large unlocks can introduce selling pressure as liquidity increases.
ARK Invest, a firm known for concentrated bets on companies it views as disruptive across AI, robotics, genomics, and blockchain, has allocated about $80 million to SpaceX following its public debut despite the decline. Wood said the stock has fallen from its peak, but not from the original IPO level, while reiterating ARK's long-term view of the company.
"We think this could become the most important company in history, and I mean in global history," Wood said. She connected that outlook to SpaceX's launch operations, satellite network, and expanding data center strategy.
Wood Highlights SpaceX's Broader Infrastructure Role
Wood said SpaceX is developing into more than a space launch company. The company already serves as a primary launch provider for NASA and the Department of Defense, giving it a foundational role in U.S. government space operations. She pointed to its position in global communications, where Starlink gives the company a wide satellite network that can operate across national borders.
According to Wood, telecom has historically been a local business, often entered by acquiring national telecom companies. SpaceX's satellite-based approach changes that model by offering a global communications system from orbit. Starlink already provides internet service across dozens of countries and has secured government and emergency-response contracts, including deployments in conflict zones and disaster areas.
Wood also said SpaceX controls about 75% of the satellites currently in orbit. That footprint gives the company a large base for communications, space services, and potential future orbital infrastructure.
The ARK Invest CEO also linked SpaceX to frontier AI. She said orbital data centers could become highly economic and may help Elon Musk's companies train advanced AI models at lower cost.
Musk has also warned investors against betting against SpaceX shares. He wrote that "The survival probability of firms that maintain a significant short position in SpaceX over time is very low."
Texas Data Center Plans Add to AI Expansion
SpaceX is preparing for at least one large-scale data center in Texas. The expansion could increase its AI computing capacity beyond its Memphis-area hub, where it operates two data centers with around 1 gigawatt of compute capacity.
The push comes amid a broader industry-wide surge in AI infrastructure spending, with major cloud providers and technology companies racing to build data center capacity to meet demand from large language model training and deployment.
The company has reviewed several possible Texas sites in recent months. It has also considered both building new data centers from scratch and converting an existing warehouse for computing operations.
The planned Texas project could reach a scale similar to or larger than the Memphis facilities. SpaceX has already sent some data center staff to Texas as it prepares for the expansion.
The company has signed AI computing deals with Anthropic and Google, broadening its effort to generate revenue from AI infrastructure. Those agreements add another business line alongside launches, satellites, and communications.
Wood said SpaceX is already renting data center capacity to major AI companies. She added that the company's mix of launch systems, satellites, communications, and AI computing makes it a broader infrastructure business.
