If You'd Invested $10,000 in the SpaceX IPO, Here's How Much You Would Have Now

Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX) drew a lot of attention in the weeks leading up to its initial public offering, for many reasons -- from the sheer size of the operation, with SpaceX's goal to become a trillion-dollar company, to the focus on offering shares to retail investors. SpaceX earmarked more than 20% of shares for them, when generally in IPOs, only 5% to 10% go to non-professional investors.

Some investors were also eager to get in on SpaceX for its range of growth businesses -- and to gain exposure to a company led by the ambitious Elon Musk.

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So, if you happened to be one of the investors who was able to buy shares at the IPO price of $135, and if you had invested $10,000, how much would that be worth now? Let's find out.

Why SpaceX has drawn attention

First, though, let's talk quickly about SpaceX -- to fully understand why so many sets of eyes were turned toward the company on and before its June 12 market debut. As mentioned, the SpaceX operation promised to be big, pushing the company to a trillion-dollar market cap right out of the gate.

The world's other trillion-dollar companies, such as Nvidia and Amazon, for example, had to wait years and even decades to reach such a level. And by the time they did, they already were highly profitable, well-established players.

SpaceX, however, is still in earlier growth stages, developing technology and investing to reach its goals. The company's business units of space, connectivity, and artificial intelligence (AI) brought in $18 billion in revenue last year, but capital spending meant the company wasn't able to turn revenue into a profit. Instead, SpaceX reported a loss of $4.9 billion.

While SpaceX has scored accomplishments like rocket launches with reusable boosters and growth in satellite-based internet service subscriptions, the company still must invest heavily to reach its biggest goals. And this may weigh on its ability to reach profitability. It also involves risk because a technology setback could call into question a certain revenue opportunity.

Elon Musk's big dreams

Still, some investors flocked to the company for this focus on innovation, driven by chief Elon Musk, who is known for big dreams -- as head of Tesla, he's deploying robotaxis, and at SpaceX, his most significant goal may be to colonize Mars.