Starlink Achieves Cash Flow Break-even, Boosting Attractiveness for an IPO

Key Points

• 💰 Starlink’s cash flow is now breakeven, according to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
• 🛰️ This development makes an IPO for Starlink more attractive.
• 📈 SpaceX has overcome financial challenges, with over 5,000 satellites launched and key partnerships.
• 🚀 While a Starlink IPO is possible, it may not happen until after 2025, as Musk suggested.
• 📊 SpaceX, the parent company, is also expected to go public within the next three years, potentially rivaling Tesla in size.

Starlink is now breaking even with its cash flow, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said, and an IPO is becoming more attractive.

Yesterday, Musk said that Starlink has officially reached a point where it is breaking even with its cash flow on the satellite internet project.

Excited to announce that @SpaceX @Starlink has achieved breakeven cash flow! Excellent work by a great team.

Starlink is also now a majority of all active satellites and will have launched a a majority of all satellites cumulatively from Earth by next year.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2023

The announcement from Musk means that an IPO could be becoming more attractive, as in 2021, he said that the stock could go public when its cash flow was more predictable.

“SpaceX needs to pass through a deep chasm of negative cash flow over the next year or so to make Starlink financially viable,” Musk said in 2021. “Every new satellite constellation in history has gone bankrupt. We hope to be the first that does not.”

In September, VP of SpaceX Starlink Jonathan Hofeller said that the company was no longer taking a hit financially from producing Starlink.

It was a huge step for Starlink, as SpaceX has dealt with many challenges in its development. But this year, SpaceX has officially passed the 5,000 satellite threshold and signed various partnerships, including one with Maersk earlier this year.

Now that things are more predictable, a potential IPO could be on the way for Starlink, as Musk once discussed spinning off Starlink to take it public. However, he told employees last year that the business was not likely to go public until after 2025, CNBC reports.

SpaceX, on the other hand, is also going to go public in the coming years, according to several investors, including Ron Baron, who said in an interview earlier this week that he expects the stock to be public within three years. Baron said he believes SpaceX stock could be bigger than Tesla.