SpaceX: Where to buy SpaceX shares in Australia

SpaceX is going public. Elon Musk's rocket, satellite and AI company spends billions of dollars more than it earns, and it is listing on the NASDAQ.

Retail investors can get a piece of the action. There are three ways Australians can invest, although it's too late for the first option if you haven't registered by now.

1. Participate in the IPO.
2. Buy shares on a trading platform.
3. Invest via an ETF.

1. Participate in the IPO

It's now too late to register for the IPO via CommSec (SpaceX's approved Australian retail broker) or Sharesies.

If you did, you'd have the option to buy SpaceX shares at launch (the indicative pre-launch price is $135 USD per share).

Applications have closed, so you're out of luck now.

2. Buy shares on a trading platform

SpaceX is listing on the US-based NASDAQ exchange, so you can't buy shares on the ASX. You need a broker or trading platform with access to US markets.

Luckily, there's plenty of ways to do this. Stake, Superhero, IBKR, CommSec, Webull, Tiger Brokers, moomoo and many other platforms let you trade NASDAQ-listed stocks.

When deciding, focus on the fees, how quickly you can get set up and start trading, and don't forget about conversion fees.

3. Invest via an ETF

Instead of buying SpaceX shares directly, you can invest in an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks NASDAQ stocks. This gives you access to SpaceX (and other shares) without buying the shares directly.

This approach also lets you trade on the ASX if you want, because there are NASDAQ ETFs on the ASX.

You could invest in the BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF, which tracks the top 100 NASDAQ companies.

Other ways to invest

If you want to invest in SpaceX indirectly, CFDs are a flexible but risky option. With a CFD you don't own the stock. Instead you take a leveraged, short-term position on the price of an asset.

You can essentially take a bet on the future price of SpaceX without buying the shares. And you can do it while only putting a small amount of money down.

CFDs let you go long (invest hoping the price goes up) or short (you expect the price to fall). You can invest in SpaceX CFDs right now, before the IPO.

Trading CFDs is risky (it's banned for US retail investors), because even small price swings can suddenly wipe out an unprepared trader.

Should you invest in SpaceX?

The question of whether SpaceX is a "good" investment or not is impossible to answer. You need to make your own decision, equipped with as many facts as possible.

The positive case for SpaceX

SpaceX is an Elon Musk venture. While the man is very controversial, and increasingly unpopular with a large section of the public, he is the richest man in the world. If you'd invested in Tesla 10 years ago, and so on and so on.

For a lot of investors, SpaceX shares represent another big opportunity to ride Musk's success. The company has made genuine strides in terms of its rocket tech and satellites.

It has billions in revenue and is the leading private space company in the world.

The negative case for SpaceX

Elon Musk retains full control of the company, with no real shareholder oversight. He's an increasingly erratic, conspiracy-driven man. He frequently makes big promises about future technology with firm deadlines that never come to pass.

Also, an investment in SpaceX is not really an investment in rocket technology or even satellites. Based on the company's IPO paperwork, SpaceX sees itself as an AI company that plans to create "orbital AI" aka data centres in space that use solar power more efficiently than Earth-based technology.

Crucially, such technology is only theoretically possible at this point. SpaceX needs to invent it, and it needs to be cost-efficient and better than other options. And even then, you'd need to approach SpaceX as an AI investment rather than a space industry investment (although it's a bit of both).

Retail hype is a major pricing factor

Enthusiasm among retail investors is high. Many are hoping for a repeat of the Tesla stock price.

Investors are going to pay a premium close to launch. If you're a fundamentals investor, you're paying way too much when you consider SpaceX's revenue and cash burn.

SpaceX is an investment for the true believers. Or investors who don't give a damn about the tech, but believe they can surf the wave of investor enthusiasm anyway.