Wall Street is selling pure snake oil to justify SpaceX IPO valuation
u/La_Mantequilla ·
Reddit — r/wallstreetbets
· June 05, 2026 at 16:01
· ⬆ 901 pts
· 💬 176 comments
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Summary
The post criticizes Morgan Stanley’s projection that SpaceX could generate $3.4 trillion in revenue by 2040, calling it absurd and a marketing ploy to justify a massive IPO valuation.
The author’s thesis is that Wall Street is inflating SpaceX’s potential (Starlink, Mars, asteroid mining) to drum up underwriting fees, leaving retail investors as exit liquidity.
Quality assessment: This is speculative noise/sentiment commentary, not a data-driven deep dive. It lacks concrete financial models or counter-arguments, relying on hyperbolic comparison to US GDP.
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Are we actually serious right now? I just saw this headline. Morgan Stanley is out here telling investors that SpaceX is going to hit **$3.4 TRILLION in revenue** by 2040. For context, the entire US GDP is around $28 trillion. They are claiming a single rocket and satellite company is going to bring in over 10% of the current US economy's total output in 14 years.
Why stop at $3.4 trillion? Why not just say 4 gazillion? To hit Morgan Stanley's fairy-tale target, their revenue would need to multiply current SpaceX revenue by more than 180 times.
They aren't doing actual math; they are reverse-engineering a narrative to justify a massive $1.77 trillion valuation tag. Wall Street wants those sweet IPO underwriting fees, so they will draw up the most absurd hockey-stick growth charts imaginable to keep the hype train moving for Elon and institutional buyers. They feed retail investors a dream about Mars and unlimited Starlink trillions, pump the valuation, and let everyday folks hold the bag when the laws of physics and economics inevitably kick in.
https://preview.redd.it/12fxc2jrlh5h1.png?width=652&format=png&auto=webp&s=b3c57f9c973c92ede54ff3a8e130e4272923c965