Cathie Wood Says SpaceX Could Become ‘the Most Important Company in History’ Despite 48% Stock Slide

Ark Looks Beyond SpaceX’s Stock Slide

Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood doubled down on SpaceX despite the stock’s punishing retreat, arguing that Elon Musk’s company has the potential to transform communications, artificial intelligence and humanity’s access to space.

She said in an interview with Fox Business on July 22:

“We think this could become the most important company in history, and I mean in global history.”

“Because we are talking about not only really exploring a new world—the universe—in terms of its launch capabilities and helping others to do so as well, but also a global communications network,” she explained.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (Nasdaq: SPCX) traded at $116.95 on July 22, approximately 48.17% below its 52-week high of $225.64 and 13.37% below its $135 IPO price. Investors are also preparing for one of the largest share unlocks in U.S. market history, with restrictions on approximately 911.5 million insider shares scheduled to begin expiring on Aug. 6, two days after the company’s first quarterly earnings report. Additional shares could become eligible under conditional provisions.

Ark’s buying has matched Wood’s rhetoric. The firm added another $20.5 million of SpaceX shares during the selloff after building an initial position of nearly 3.3 million shares across three exchange-traded funds (ETFs) following the listing. The latest purchase brought Ark’s additional post-IPO buying to roughly $80 million. The purchases show Ark is using the sharp decline to deepen its exposure even as the looming $116 billion share unlock threatens to add more near-term pressure.

SpaceX completed its IPO at $135 per share, selling nearly 639 million shares after underwriters fully exercised their option. That generated approximately $86.25 billion in gross proceeds, according to the company’s official filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Starlink Gives SpaceX Global Reach

Wood argued that telecommunications has traditionally been a country-by-country business, where companies entered new markets by acquiring local telecom operators. She said Starlink has changed that dynamic, emphasizing:

“This is a global business, and SpaceX is the first mover with 70% of the satellites out there.”

That scale supports Ark’s broader Starlink investment thesis, which treats satellite broadband as a central source of SpaceX’s long-term value.

In January, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authorized SpaceX to deploy an additional 7,500 second-generation, or Gen2, Starlink satellites, increasing its approved constellation to 15,000 satellites worldwide. As of July 2026, SpaceX had nearly 10,800 Starlink satellites in orbit, underscoring the scale behind Wood’s global communications thesis.

Orbital Data Centers Add an AI Opportunity

Wood’s bullish thesis doesn’t stop with internet access. She believes SpaceX could use its satellite and data center infrastructure to lower computing costs and support the development of advanced AI models.

“Beyond that, we have the global data centers, or orbital data centers, so they will be the most economic and will allow Elon and team the opportunity to develop, we think, some of the most sophisticated frontier models in the world at the lowest cost. So, huge opportunities,” Wood said.

The Ark Invest executive added that SpaceX is already monetizing its computing infrastructure on Earth:

“In the meantime, on Earth, SpaceX is renting out its data centers to Anthropic and Google and others. It’s an amazing story.”

Her comments highlight why Ark has continued increasing its SpaceX position despite the stock’s sharp decline. The company’s first quarterly earnings report and the Aug. 6 start of the expiration of restrictions on roughly $116 billion worth of insider shares are expected to be the next major tests of whether investors share Wood’s long-term conviction.