Tesla Faces Second Musk Stock as Spacex Ipo Date Nears
SpaceX’s spacex ipo date is set for 2026, and that would give investors a second Musk-linked stock to buy. Tesla is already down 8.8% this year after a 265% run from the beginning of 2023 to the end of 2025. The tension is now between one public market favorite and a new listing that could pull money and attention toward Elon Musk’s next company.
Joe Gilbert on Tesla pressure
Joe Gilbert, a portfolio manager at Integrity Asset Management, said, “This cannot be a positive for Tesla.” He added, “We believe that Musk’s focus will predominantly be lasered on SpaceX.” His blunt view is that SpaceX would not just join the market; it would compete with Tesla for the same pool of investors who treat Musk as a single story rather than two separate companies.
“Musk has proved to be able to balance multiple initiatives simultaneously in the past, but it feels like SpaceX is his new baby at the expense of Tesla,” Gilbert said. Tesla traded at about 196 times earnings over the next 12 months, a level that leaves little room if growth slows further while a new Musk equity story opens beside it.
SpaceX and Tesla valuation gap
SpaceX confirmed its intentions for a 2026 IPO in December, and the company has since been described as imminent. Gilbert said, “We expect SpaceX to come to market with an astronomical valuation, pun intended,” and added, “It has no true competitors.”
That setup matters because Tesla’s $1.5 trillion market capitalization already far exceeds the combined market value of Rivian Automotive Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc., which was about $170 billion. A SpaceX listing would add another large-scale Musk asset for investors to price, while Tesla has been framed as the only public proxy for his ambitions until now.
$1 million in retail inflows
Since December, SpaceX stock has recorded net retail inflows of about $1 million through May 18, with roughly equal days of inflows and outflows over that stretch. The figures suggest investors are already testing demand before any public listing. Gilbert summed up the broader market logic this way: “Any Musk company will always embed a call option in its valuation for vision.”
If SpaceX reaches the market in 2026 on the valuation Gilbert expects, Tesla holders may find the competition for Musk-linked capital sharper than before. Retail investors who currently use Tesla as their Musk exposure could soon have a second ticker to choose from, and that choice may change how both shares are priced.
