Investors Aren't Waiting for a SpaceX IPO. New Space ETFs Are Taking Off

Key Takeaways

• Space-themed ETFs such as Global X Space Tech, Roundhill Space & Technology, and Tema Space Innovators are concentrated portfolios of companies linked to space development. SpaceX, however, is a feature in just one.

• The stocks in those ETFs, among others, have risen 80%, on average, year-to-date, according to Bespoke Investment Group, edging out the PHLX Semiconductor index over the same period.

Mooning over SpaceX’s coming IPO? There are other space-themed investments aimed at the same premise. And they’re rising like—well, like rockets.

At least three space ETFs—including Global X Space Tech (ORBX), Roundhill Space & Technology (MARS), and Tema Space Innovators (NASA)—have launched since March. All three members of that trio have logged double-digit gains since, approaching the 18% rise of the PHLX Semiconductor index, the chip benchmark.

WHY THIS MATTERS TO YOU

SpaceX’s hotly anticipated debut appears to be landing at a time when space-themed stocks are going to the moon.

What the ETFs have in common, besides nifty tickers, are concentrated stock portfolios. An analysis of a couple dozen of their holdings byBespoke Investment Group, shows they were shooting the lights out even before the funds launched. Those holdings, the firm’s data show, have on average climbed about 80% this year through Monday. (The currently private SpaceX, expected to be the biggest IPO of all time when it lands—which could be soon—isn’t in all of them, though the “NASA” fund has a 5% slug of it.)

Across the three space ETFs’ holdings are rocket maker Rocket Lab (RKLB) and satellite shop Planet Labs (PL), which have risen 88% and 111% through Monday. There’s also Satellogic (SATL), which jumped over 410%; Vishay Precision (VPG), up 173%; and Spire Global (SPIR), ahead 156% over the same time period. None of those companies, according to their respective recent quarterly earnings reports, are profitable in GAAP terms.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon executive chair and founder of private space company Blue Origin, said space tech is “accelerating,” citing SpaceX’s satellite internet service Starlink as an example.

“I would caution people who think it’s all science fiction,” he said in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday. “Because it is real, it is happening, and it’s probably going to happen faster than most people think.”

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