Wall Street Is Ignoring the Bond Market’s Warning: SpaceX Is Junk

1 month ago 9

Danielle Liverance

Wed, July 15, 2026 astatine 9:55 AM CDT 4 min read

Quick Read

  • SpaceX (SPCX) carries a BBB investment-grade rating, but enslaved spreads of 1.62 points transcend adjacent the BB junk mean of 1.55, signaling hidden recognition risk.

  • S&P projects antagonistic escaped currency travel done 2029, portion Moody's flags Musk's concentrated voting powerfulness arsenic a governance hazard that limits autarkic committee oversight.

  • SpaceX's 30-year enslaved spreads person stretched to astir 2 points, repeating a widening signifier that preceded the 2008 owe situation earlier immoderate standing bureau acted.

  • Act now: the expert who called NVIDIA successful 2010 conscionable named his apical 10 AI stocks — and SpaceX didn't marque the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

One of the largest IPOs successful past closed successful June, drafting much than $300 cardinal successful orders for $75 cardinal of shares sold, an oversubscription of astir 4x. Wall Street called it a moonshot. The enslaved market, quietly, called it thing else. As Bloomberg Opinion columnist Nir Kaissar argued successful "SpaceX Is Junk. That's What the Bond Market Says" (July 7, 2026), recognition investors are pricing SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) indebtedness arsenic if the standing statement were fiction.

A large, muscular bronze statue of a charging bull with its caput  lowered and horns pointed forward, acceptable   to strike. The bull has a rich, golden-brown patina with darker accents, and stands connected  a grey cobblestone street. In the background, determination   is simply a lush greenish  parkland  with trees, lampposts, and a achromatic  building, on  with a thoroughfare  motion   indicating a passageway  ahead.

AndreyKrav / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

The Rating Says Investment Grade. The Spread Says Otherwise.

All 3 large agencies placed SpaceX successful concern people successful ratings actions announced June 18, 2026: S&P astatine BBB (stable), Moody's astatine Baa1 (stable), and Fitch astatine BBB+ (stable). Average that trio and you onshore connected BBB, the lowest rung of concern grade.

Yet arsenic of aboriginal July, Kaissar noted, SpaceX bonds traded astatine an mean recognition dispersed of 1.62 percent points implicit Treasuries, portion mean BBB corporates traded astatine 0.92 points and mean BB (junk/high-yield) bonds astatine 1.55 points. SpaceX indebtedness clears wider than the junk average. Buyers are demanding a hazard premium the statement does not require.

Act now: the expert who called NVIDIA successful 2010 conscionable named his apical 10 AI stocks — and SpaceX didn't marque the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

The Curve Tells the Real Story

Kaissar's maturity breakdown sharpens the argument. The 5-year insubstantial trades astatine a 1.18-point spread. The 30-year (2056) insubstantial stretches to 1.99 points. The standing stays level astatine BBB crossed each maturity. Near term, creditors judge the story. Push retired to 2056 and they are pricing thing person to speculative.

That matters. Junk-rated bonds default meaningfully much often than investment-grade issues, and galore pensions and insurers are mandated to debar speculative debt. If the statement ever catches down to the spread, forced selling could follow.

What the Raters Are Nervous About

The fundamentals explicate the caution. S&P projects antagonistic escaped currency travel done 2029. Moody's expects beardown gross and net maturation done 2028, powered by Starlink, which reported 12 cardinal subscribers arsenic of aboriginal June 2026, but flags governance hazard tied to SpaceX's controlled ownership operation and Elon Musk's concentrated voting power, which limits autarkic committee oversight. Starlink is carrying the institution portion the AI and X portion posted a ample operating loss. SpaceX floated $25 cardinal successful nationalist indebtedness astir the IPO.

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