SpaceX Just Had the Biggest IPO in History. Here's What It Tells Investors About Buying Anthropic and OpenAI When They Go Public.

Space Exploration Technologies' (NASDAQ: SPCX) initial public offering showed how quickly investors can pile into a well-known technology leader once its shares become publicly available. The tech company priced its IPO at $135 per share, aiming to raise about $75 billion. The total later increased to about $85.7 billion after underwriters exercised their option to buy additional shares.

The stock opened at $150, already 11% above the IPO price, and closed its first trading day at $160.95, giving IPO investors a nearly 19% day-one gain.

Image source: Getty Images.

Demand for SpaceX stock far exceeded available supply. Investor interest reportedly exceeded $250 billion, significantly higher than the $75 billion SpaceX initially expected to raise.

Anthropic and OpenAI are also moving closer to IPOs. Let's assess SpaceX's IPO to understand what may happen when the next wave of megacap private technology companies reaches public markets.

SpaceX IPO backed by solid business

SpaceX entered the market with real scale, with revenue rising from $10.4 billion in 2023 to $14 billion in 2024 and $18.7 billion in 2025.

SpaceX's rocket launch business continues to gain traction. Since its founding, the company has completed 650 rocket launches and carried about 7,400 metric tons of satellites, spacecraft, and other customer equipment into space by the end of Q1 2026. SpaceX completed 170 of those launches in 2025, carrying 2,213 metric tons into space.

Beyond launches, Starlink satellite internet has become SpaceX's main recurring revenue business. Starlink had 10.3 million subscribers at the end of the first quarter. SpaceX's connectivity segment, which includes Starlink, also generated $11.4 billion in revenue and $4.4 billion in operating income in 2025. That profit gives SpaceX more financial flexibility to invest in opportunities such as the Starship reusable rocket system, satellite-to-mobile services, and AI infrastructure.

The xAI deal and the $60 billion all-stock deal to buy Anysphere, the company behind AI coding agent Cursor, have pushed SpaceX deeper into AI software and enterprise AI tools.

However, SpaceX remains a loss-making, capital-intensive business. The company also seems to be facing margin pressure to support top-line growth. Hence, investors are currently paying a high price for years of near-perfect future execution.

Anthropic and OpenAI may face an even harder test

Anthropic and OpenAI have both confidentially filed for U.S. IPOs. Anthropic recently raised capital at a reported $965 billion valuation, while OpenAI could reportedly seek a valuation of up to $1 trillion.

Both companies could come public with strong brands, rapid revenue growth, and major enterprise customers. However, they will need to prove their ability to manage compute costs, maintain pricing power, hold on to enterprise customers, navigate legal risks, and turn heavy AI usage into durable profits.

As SpaceX showed, Anthropic and OpenAI could open for public trading well above their IPO prices if demand is strong. But that also creates a risk for ordinary investors. By the time these companies list, private investors may already have captured much of the earliest upside.

Retail investors should therefore look beyond the IPO excitement and focus on revenue durability, margin improvement, and valuation before buying these stocks.

Manali Pradhan, CFA has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.