NEW YORK – ARK Invest has made a significant public-market move by acquiring approximately 3.29 million shares of SpaceX, valued at over $500 million, shortly after the company's record-breaking initial public offering. The purchase marks one of ARK's largest single-stock bets in recent years, signaling strong conviction in Elon Musk's rocket and artificial intelligence venture.
SpaceX shares closed at $201.98 on Tuesday, up $9.35 for the session, after reaching an intraday high of $225.38. The stock's rally was fueled by robust demand from both equity and options markets, with Reuters reporting that SpaceX briefly surpassed Amazon's market capitalization and even overtook Microsoft during the trading session before pulling back.
To finance the SpaceX acquisition, ARK sold portions of its holdings in several high-profile names, including Tesla (TSLA), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Robinhood Markets (HOOD), and Teradyne (TER). The trades were executed across multiple ARK exchange-traded funds, with the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) absorbing the largest share allocation, while the ARK Space & Defense Innovation ETF (ARKQ) saw the biggest percentage increase in its SpaceX position.
The timing of ARK's purchase coincides with SpaceX's announcement that it will acquire Anysphere, the developer of AI coding assistant Cursor, for $60 billion in stock. The deal is intended to strengthen xAI's position in business software, pitting Cursor against tools from OpenAI and Anthropic—two private AI firms also seen as potential public market entrants. SpaceX reported $18.67 billion in revenue for 2025 but posted a net loss of $4.94 billion, according to Reuters. The company's IPO valuation implies a price-to-revenue multiple well above most large-cap public companies, with much of its AI business plan dependent on projects still under development.
ARK's venture fund had previously invested in SpaceX during October 2023, before the IPO. The firm noted that its fund structure allows it to hold both private and public companies, so the listing only changed liquidity and pricing, not its investment thesis. Cathie Wood's team has a history of making concentrated bets on what it calls platform companies, and this move fits that playbook.
However, risks remain. Joe Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading, told Reuters, "It's a $2.5 trillion company, but it certainly feels like one of those meme stocks." He cautioned investors to be wary of stocks driven by momentum. Matt Britzman of Hargreaves Lansdown viewed the Cursor acquisition positively, noting its coding models are strong for the price, even if Cursor lacks the scale of OpenAI or Anthropic.
Elon Musk added to the enthusiasm over the weekend, stating he would be surprised if SpaceX revenue does not exceed $1 trillion by 2031—a figure far above the 2030 projections from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Morningstar analyst Robby Greengold, who tracks ARK, told Business Insider that while the firm has strong conviction, "the range of outcomes is wide."
