SpaceX plots 20 billion bond deal after record IPO

SpaceX is plotting to raise at least $20 billion through its first investment-grade bond offering, with investor calls expected as early as next week, according to Reuters and Bloomberg. The newly public company is reportedly seeking to replace temporary financing tied to its acquisition of Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI.

The bond sale would help to refinance a $20 billion loan acquired from five Wall Street banks by SpaceX earlier this year after it absorbed xAI in February. This loan slated to mature in September 2027, accounts for most of the company’s $29.1 billion long-term debt as of March 31, according to SpaceX’s IPO filing with the SEC.

The Wall Street banks involved are the Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, and these same banks are expected to manage the bond deal.

SpaceX AI is a black hole for capital

The bond offering follows SpaceX’s blockbuster Nasdaq debut last week, which pushed its valuation well past $2 trillion and officially made Musk the world’s first trillionaire.

Shares climbed sharply in the first two trading sessions before pulling back, falling by 6% on Thursday, as investors continue to assess if the valuation would withstand pressures, given the cost of the company’s AI expansion.

SpaceX’s AI ambitions require tens of billions in spending on data centers, power, and computing hardware. The company posted a net loss of $4.28 billion from a $4.69 billion revenue for the first quarter in 2026, compared with a $528 million loss on about $4 billion in revenue a year earlier.

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has committed $30 billion for computing power under a cloud deal running through mid-2029, and Anthropic has a roughly $45 billion agreement spanning about three years. These two massive contracts will be major sources of future revenue for the company.

Credit ratings are looking favorable

All three major credit agencies rated SpaceX on Thursday, with Moody’s assigning a Baa1 rating, Fitch giving a BBB+, and S&P Global Ratings coming in one notch lower at BBB.  Each rating sits comfortably above junk territory, which should make the bonds attractive to a broad pool of institutional investors, giving the company access to cheaper borrowing costs.

“The company will likely want to establish a track record in debt markets soon,” CreditSights analyst Matt Woodruff told Bloomberg ahead of the potential sale. “They will need money down the road for capital expenditure, so from that perspective, the sooner the better.”

SpaceX disclosed in its IPO filing that capital expenditure will increase “substantially” and that it planned to tap “a range of debt and equity financing solutions” for the company’s future investments.

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