SpaceX may have missed its window to buy Tesla - Yahoo Finance

What the report says

Yahoo Finance, republishing a Fortune analysis by Shawn Tully, reported that Elon Musk’s comments on Tesla’s July 22 second-quarter earnings call revived questions about whether SpaceX could pursue a takeover of Tesla. Asked by an analyst whether SpaceX planned to buy the electric-vehicle, battery and robotics company, Musk said such a matter could not be discussed on an earnings call and would require the proper process. The article said his broader remarks highlighted increasing ties between the companies, including work involving Digital Optimus, xAI’s Grok chatbot and Starlink connectivity in Tesla vehicles.

The report focused on how recent stock moves may have made any all-stock deal harder to defend financially. It said SpaceX went public on June 12 at $135 a share, climbed to $211 by July 16 and reached an implied valuation of $2.8 trillion. At that point, Tesla was valued at about $1.6 trillion, meaning SpaceX could theoretically buy Tesla by issuing shares equal to about 57% of its existing share count, leaving current SpaceX holders with close to two-thirds of the combined company.

By mid-afternoon July 24, Yahoo Finance reported, the numbers had shifted sharply. Tesla had fallen from $405 to $308, while SpaceX had dropped from $211 to $113. That put SpaceX’s market value at roughly $1.49 trillion and Tesla’s at about $1.22 trillion, implying SpaceX would need to issue shares equal to about 82% of its existing share count to buy Tesla.

The article argued that this would create much heavier dilution for SpaceX investors and could pressure the combined company’s shares, while Tesla holders might also face risk if SpaceX stock weakened after a deal.