5 Stocks Poised to Benefit Now That SpaceX Is Public

Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX), priced at $135 per share on June 11, opened at $150, and closed its first trading day at $160.95 -- a 19% gain that pushed its market capitalization to $2.1 trillion and made it the sixth-largest company in the United States.

Now, as of June 17, the ticker is trading over $196 a share. The $75 billion raised was the largest initial public offering (IPO) in history, eclipsing Saudi Aramco's 2019 record. All that capital isn't going to sit in a vault. It goes into Starship production, Starlink constellation expansion, Terafab manufacturing, and orbital infrastructure at a scale that was simply not possible before.

The companies that build for that spending, orbit alongside it, or sit on extraordinary hidden value tied to SpaceX's public valuation are now positioned to benefit directly. Here are five.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Alphabet (Google)

In 2015, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) invested $900 million in SpaceX as part of a $1 billion round. That stake -- now sitting at 6.11% of SpaceX -- is worth approximately $122 billion at the current $2 trillion valuation. For context, that single private holding is worth more than Alphabet's entire annual net income.

Until last week, this value was locked away on a balance sheet that accounting rules forced Alphabet to carry at a fraction of its actual worth. Now that SpaceX is public, that stake is marked to market every single trading day. Alphabet didn't just benefit from SpaceX going public, it crystallized one of the most extraordinary unrealized gains in corporate history.

Investors buying Alphabet today are getting a company that dominates search, cloud, and AI, with $122 billion in SpaceX exposure alongside it.

2. Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) is the purest-play beneficiary because it serves a part of the launch market that SpaceX can't. SpaceX is optimized for large payloads and mega-constellations. Rocket Lab's Electron rocket targets small satellites and dedicated missions that need precision orbital insertion. This is a market that grows directly alongside the commercial space economy SpaceX is creating.

The company is building out its Neutron medium-lift rocket, developing its own spacecraft components, and has signed contracts worth close to $1 billion that validate its position as the second serious launch provider in the world. As SpaceX's IPO rerates the entire sector and draws institutional capital into space infrastructure, Rocket Lab sits in the most natural position to capture that attention.

3. Kratos Defense

Every satellite SpaceX launches needs a ground system to operate. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ: KTOS) builds those systems, and its OpenSpace platform is the industry's dominant commercial software-defined satellite ground solution -- already deployed by Intelsat, SSC Space, and others. In April, it received a $446.8 million Space Systems Command contract to build the ground architecture for the U.S. military's next-generation missile warning constellation.

SpaceX's $75 billion in IPO proceeds go toward more Starlink satellites, more launches, and more orbital infrastructure. All of that creates more demand for the ground networks that talk to it. Kratos is the picks-and-shovels play that most investors haven't found yet.

4. Intuitive Machines

Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ: LUNR) is the only commercial space company that has successfully landed on the Moon, and it is building the communications and logistics infrastructure that makes the lunar economy possible -- an economy that SpaceX's Starship is central to creating. Its first-quarter 2026 backlog hit $1.055 billion, and the company is acquiring Goonhilly Earth Station to build a permanent deep-space communications network. Intuitive Machines flies its landers on Falcon 9 rockets. Every time SpaceX deploys Starship for lunar missions, Intuitive Machines' role grows.

5. AST SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) decided, after losing a satellite on a competitor's rocket, to move its next three BlueBird satellites to a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch, targeted for mid-June 2026. That's a real vote of confidence. AST is building a space-based cellular broadband network that connects standard smartphones to satellites, with commercial agreements with AT&T and Vodafone.

SpaceX's IPO didn't create AST's opportunity, but it supercharged the sector narrative around satellite-based connectivity, which AST competes in at a different layer than Starlink. As SpaceX draws institutional attention to what becomes possible when orbital infrastructure scales, AST SpaceMobile captures some of that re-rating in a market that is still figuring out what the company is worth.

Micah Zimmerman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AST SpaceMobile, Alphabet, Intuitive Machines, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, and Rocket Lab. The Motley Fool recommends Vodafone Group Public. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.