Tesla shares rose 4% in Friday's pre-market trade to $375 apiece following the unveiling of the redesigned Roadster featuring SpaceX-developed thrusters. As reported by LiveMint, SpaceX shares also climbed 1% on the announcement. The market reaction reflects investor excitement over the successful demonstration of the flying car technology that Musk has been teasing since 2017. During the livestreamed event at a SpaceX test facility in Texas, the vehicle launched from a steep steel ramp and performed a full barrel roll in mid-air before landing on its wheels, with the demonstration originally scheduled for October 1 before severe weather forced a two-week postponement.
SpaceX went public on June 12 at $135 per share, achieving a $1.77 trillion valuation - the largest initial public offering on record. As reported by Polymarket, SpaceX closed October 14 at a $2.07 trillion market value, while Tesla shares are down about 18% this year. SpaceX stock peaked at $225.64 within days of its debut, then slid from those highs. The company also absorbed Musk's AI company xAI in February.
The redesigned Roadster features 10 nozzles and ultra-high-pressure air tanks to propel itself into the air and accelerate quickly on the ground, as described by Musk during the event. The vehicle, which is designed to lean into aerospace aesthetics, accelerates from zero to 60 miles per hour in under one second and features a Cybertruck-style steer-by-wire system. The vehicle is equipped with a compressed-air system whose pressure vessel would replace the rear seats, turning the Roadster from a four-seat configuration into a two-seater. Musk emphasized that the car was equipped with 10 nozzles and ultra-high-pressure air tanks to propel itself into the air and accelerate quickly on the ground, with the sports car designed to lean into aerospace aesthetics.
Barclays thinks the likelier route is SpaceX buying Tesla with stock, which would leave Musk with roughly 37% of the equity and 56% of the votes. According to Polymarket, the bank sees the gains in integration, not financial engineering, pointing to Tesla's robotaxis and Optimus humanoid robots joining SpaceX's AI work. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives made a Tesla-SpaceX merger merger forecast of better than 80% odds by 2027. Viram Shah, founder & CEO of Vested Finance, noted that the launch reinforces how closely Tesla and SpaceX are beginning to overlap technologically, potentially combining Tesla's physical AI businesses with SpaceX's AI, infrastructure, and semiconductor ambitions.
The successful Roadster demonstration has revived merger speculation among investors, with Barclays arguing that a Tesla-SpaceX combination is increasingly becoming a consensus expectation. As reported by LiveMint, Shah emphasized that this remains speculation rather than a confirmed transaction, though the collaboration demonstrates the technological overlap between the two companies. Barclays says a deal could surface before Tesla's annual shareholder meeting, which must be held by December 6, with an announcement separate from the meeting also possible within six to 12 months. Musk described the development as "what happens when you have a collaboration with the world's best car company and the world's best rocket company," referring to Tesla and SpaceX.
