Aswath Damodaran on SpaceX, AI and the Limits of Big Market Stories

Professor Aswath Damodaran joins The Intangible Economy to break down how to value SpaceX, AI companies, intangible assets, and the future of value investing.We discuss why big markets do not automatically create big value, how AI CapEx is changing the character of major technology companies, and why the best investment stories still have to connect to the numbers.Aswath Damodaran on Xhttps://x.com/AswathDamodaranMusings on Marketshttps://aswathdamodaran.blogspot.com/Revisiting the SpaceX Valuation: A Post-Prospectus Updatehttps://aswathdamodaran.blogspot.com/2026/06/a-weeks-ago-i-assessed-value-of-spacex.htmlThe Big Market Delusion: Valuation and Investment Implicationshttps://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3501688Valuing Cyclical and Commodity Companieshttps://people.stern.nyu.edu/adamodar/pdfiles/papers/commodity.pdfValue Investing: Requiem, Rebirth or Reincarnation?https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3779481Topics covered:Valuing SpaceX after its IPO and why price matters even for great companiesHow Starlink, space launch, and xAI fit into SpaceX’s valuation storyWhy total addressable market can mislead investors in AI and other disruptive industriesThe problem with AI unit economics, data centers, power, water, and reinvestment needsWhy growth can destroy value when margins and returns on capital are weakHow intangible assets, R&D, future growth, and narratives should show up in valuationThe Big Market Delusion and how overconfidence drives boom and bust cyclesWhy AI CapEx is different from the dot-com boom and could create broader risksHow AI is changing the character of the Magnificent Seven and semiconductor companiesWhy value investing became rigid, ritualistic, and righteous, and how it can evolveTimestamps:00:00 Why great companies can still be bad investments01:03 Introducing Aswath Damodaran and The Intangible Economy01:49 SpaceX IPO, Starlink, xAI, and the challenge of valuing uncertainty05:31 Why Starlink became the core of SpaceX’s current revenue10:31 How Damodaran valued SpaceX across launch, connectivity, and AI14:07 Why AI’s huge market may still have difficult unit economics17:10 The tension between SpaceX competing in AI and renting data centers to competitors20:00 Why valuation should use distributions instead of false precision22:39 How stories and numbers work together in valuation26:45 Why investors confuse promises, potential, and businesses30:49 The Big Market Delusion and overconfidence in AI investing33:02 Why the AI CapEx boom is different from the dot-com bubble35:17 How AI infrastructure is changing the Magnificent Seven38:36 Nvidia, Micron, semiconductors, and the risk of peak cycle earnings41:00 Why the biggest AI market stories could be scary for society43:37 AI disruption, labor markets, and the speed of technological change46:30 Measuring which jobs and companies are most exposed to AI automation49:00 Why AI cost structure may look more like Spotify than software51:13 The unresolved business model questions for LLMs and AI agents52:29 Why traditional value investing lost its edge56:03 Passive investing, book value, and the blame game in value investing58:13 Why rigid value investing is vulnerable to AI disruption01:00:58 How value investing can adapt to intangible assets and uncertainty01:02:21 Why any company can be a good investment at the right price01:04:57 Why investing mistakes and track records are harder to judge than they look