Alphabet poised for another paper gain as SpaceX valuation jumps

SpaceX’s insider share sale was priced at $421 a share, Bloomberg reported Friday, which would mark a sharp jump in valuation from earlier secondary transactions. That is likely to lift the carrying value of Google’s long-standing investment in Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite company. 

Alphabet, Google’s parent, has been an investor in SpaceX since at least 2015, when it joined Fidelity Investments in a $1 billion funding round for a combined stake of about 10% at the time, Bloomberg has reported.

A representative for Google declined to comment, citing their policy of not disclosing or commenting on individual private holdings. 

A similar revaluation boosted Alphabet’s earnings earlier this year. In April, the company disclosed an $8 billion unrealized gain tied to its investment in a private company — widely understood to be SpaceX — after a tender offer late last year valued the company at about $350 billion. That gain helped lift Alphabet’s net income for the March quarter above Wall Street expectations.

While Alphabet does not name individual private holdings in its financial filings, changes in SpaceX’s valuation have previously flowed through earnings as “unrealized gains on non-marketable equity securities.” 

With SpaceX’s latest tender implying a much higher valuation, investors will be watching Alphabet’s next earnings report for signs of another accounting boost.