SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) is preparing a bond offering of at least $20 billion, joining a wave of AI-driven debt issuance that has already swept through some of the most profitable companies in the world.
Wall Street has developed a clear appetite for lending to artificial intelligence, with NVIDIA, Alphabet, Amazon, and Oracle all rushing into debt markets to fund data centers, chips, and AI infrastructure at an unprecedented scale.
NVIDIA led the charge in mid-June, selling $25 billion worth of investment-grade bonds and drawing more than $85 billion in orders, more than three times the size of the original deal.
The chipmaker had initially planned to raise around $20 billion, but surging investor demand pushed the final figure higher, underscoring just how aggressively capital is chasing AI-linked debt right now.
Alphabet followed with a $84.75 billion raise through a combination of stock and preferred shares, with Berkshire Hathaway committing $10 billion of that total as part of plans to expand AI infrastructure and computing capacity.
Amazon has borrowed more than $82 billion since the start of 2025, while Oracle announced plans to raise between $45 billion and $50 billion in 2026 through a mix of debt and equity to serve customers including OpenAI, Meta, and xAI.
The reason these companies can absorb such debt loads is straightforward: they generate enormous cash flows, with NVIDIA alone expected to produce more than $200 billion in free cash flow in its current fiscal year, according to Wall Street estimates.
SpaceX’s situation is considerably more complicated, as unlike those tech giants, the company is not profitable and posted a net loss of nearly $5 billion in 2025.
In the first quarter of 2026 alone, SpaceX recorded a net loss of $4.28 billion on revenue of just $4.69 billion, a financial profile that stands in stark contrast to the cash-rich peers it is now seeking to emulate in debt markets.
The company secured investment-grade ratings from all three major agencies in June, with Moody’s assigning Baa1, Fitch awarding BBB+, and S&P issuing a BBB rating, clearing the way for a bond transaction.
Bankers are preparing to hold investor calls as early as the week of June 23, with proceeds earmarked to refinance a $20 billion bridge loan that matures in September 2027 and currently represents the bulk of SpaceX’s $29.1 billion in long-term debt as of March 31.
That bridge loan was originally arranged to retire $17.5 billion in high-interest junk debt accumulated by xAI and X, debt that carried interest rates as high as 12.5%, making refinancing at investment-grade rates a financially significant move for the company.
SpaceX absorbed Musk’s xAI earlier this year, and the AI unit is described as a significant financial drag when stripped away from the rockets and Starlink satellite business.
One bright spot for the bond pitch is a major contract with Alphabet’s Google, which has committed to paying SpaceX roughly $30 billion for computing power through mid-2029.
Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley provided the original bridge financing and are expected to manage the upcoming bond transaction.
Analyst opinions on SpaceX’s valuation vary widely, with Morningstar’s model placing SPCX at $62 per share, implying significant downside, while Oppenheimer’s bull case reaches $250 and Arete Research carries a target of $401, both premised on Starlink growth and xAI infrastructure contracts.
