Space X has no competition. I’m just seeing a repeat of history again with Facebook ipo $38 (up to $50 in first days) going down to $19 months later.
They have a large lead in reusable orbital rocket boosters.
But they absolutely have competition.
If you think China won't master reuse of Falcon 9 sized boosters in the next few years, you're not paying attention. SpaceX even has commercial competitors that might get there in the next few years.
Blue Origin just blew up a rocket and a launch pad. I'm not real optimistic about their long term chances. They're just too old-spacey. Stoke, Rocket Lab, Relativity might or might not produce viable competitors in that segment of the launch market. Europe isn't even trying for some reason (Ariane 6 is expendable) but there are other state-backed efforts worldwide apart from China.
SpaceX understands this, and it's why they're betting so hard on Starship. Reusable Falcon 9 sized boosters are going China-generic, and sooner than you think.
But there's no guarantee the Starship upper stage will achieve the kind of rapid reuse they envision (and their stock price assumes, even at its current sub-IPO level). It's possible the fully reusable Starship upper stage project will simply fail, leaving SpaceX with just Falcon 9 or possibly Super Heavy boosters + expendable Starship upper stages. I think they'll get at least some reuse out of them, but a fully reusable orbital reentry shield that doesn't need refurbishment or maintenance between flights? That's by far the hardest problem they've ever faced. Even Musk acknowledges this.
I got a lot less optimistic about their fully-reusable, no refurbishment heat shield when they gave up on new tech like stainless steel skin cooled by transpiration and fell back on the same ceramic tile scheme used by the space-shuttle (albeit much improved).
When the AI bubble corrects (or worse, bursts) then xAI is going to be a drag on SpaceX's finances.
I’m sure tons of people waiting for space X to hit hit around $100 to buy in
Tons of people go to Vegas every year too. At least they know what the odds are.
As usual, the smart/insider money cashed in on the IPO, extracted a bunch of money from retail investors, and got out. If only anyone could've seen that coming.