SpaceX shares rose more than 5% in mid-morning trading in New York, breaking above the trading range that had contained the stock since mid-August. Shares climbed past the $160 level to $167.
Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote that SpaceX shares at these levels offer an inexpensive way to gain exposure to the space and artificial intelligence economy when adjusted for projected earnings growth.
"We expect developments over the next few months will help investors better appreciate the role of SPCX in addressing the critical bottlenecks of power and chip making, potentially unlocking earnings growth and multiple expansion for the stock," Jonas wrote in a note to clients.
Jonas pointed out that, at $159 per share when the note was written, Elon Musk's company looks expensive. But when adjusted for year-over-year growth, "SpaceX trades at just ~0.3x 2028e EV/EBIT/Growth, ~40% below the ~0.5x mega cap median."
He said that ahead of the next Starship launch, traders can take advantage of the "unique opportunity" to gain exposure to shares that, while "expensive on any trailing metric, look unusually cheap on the forward."
Jonas believes that the combination of AI chatbot releases, Starship test launches toward commercialization and high-priced neocloud deals could push the stock closer to $300.
Shares are up more than 5% on Monday morning but remain well below the $225 high reached following a blockbuster IPO in mid-June. At $167, shares are well above the $135 IPO price.
"View Starship test flight 14 as a success, marking the transition from design/test to production-grade & scale. See accelerating pace of Starship deployment, with 2-3 addt'l launches by YE26, reusability of booster in NTM & Ship catch by early '28," Wells Fargo analyst Ken Gawrelski wrote in a note.
According to Bloomberg data, 36 analysts have a "Bull" rating on the stock, while seven have "Neutral" ratings and four have "Sell" ratings. The average 12-month price target among the analysts is around $217.
When can locked-up shareholders sell?
Here's the schedule:
Looking ahead, SpaceX is targeting the Starship Flight 15 test for no earlier than October 19, or about two weeks from now.