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A SpaceX initial public offering might be on the horizon. The aerospace company, run by founder and CEO Elon Musk, is reportedly planning an IPO aimed at raising over $30 billion, according to Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the matter. The IPO could be as soon as mid- to late-2026 or 2027. In its recent 2026 US Venture Capital Outlook, PitchBook pointed to the rise in space-focused stock listings, citing favorable policies. Fast Company has reached out to SpaceX for comment and will update this post if we hear back. Reaching the $30 billion threshold would make SpaceX the largest IPO in historyand give it a reported $1.5 trillion valuation. Oil company Saudi Aramco currently holds the record, raising $29 billion in 2019. It hit a $1.9 trillion valuation, selling 1.5% of its ownership. Sources cited by Bloomberg claim that SpaceX will hit about $15 billion in revenue this year and estimate $22 billion to $24 billion in 2026. Most of that income is courtesy of Starlink, which has been used by governments and companies alike to provide satellite internet services. Executives at SpaceX have floated the idea of Starlink spinning off and doing its own IPO. However, last year, CFO Bret Johnsen said it would likely be in the years to come. Musk and the companys board have reportedly already started making plans for an IPO, including hiring. The funds would, in part, go toward developing space-based data centers, presumably to help power the enormous computing needs of the AI boom. Stocks rise in space-adjacent companies News of a potential SpaceX listing has led to a spike in share prices of related companies. Take EchoStar Corporation, which sold spectrum licenses to SpaceX this fall. Between two separate deals, EchoStar received $11.1 billion in SpaceX private stock. The companys shares (Nasdaq: SATS) closed up about 6% on Tuesday and jumped nearly 7% in premarket trading on Wednesday. Space transportation company Rocket Lab Corporation saw its shares (Nasdaq: RKLB) close up 3.6% and rise another 1.5% overnight.
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E-Commerce
Its a common experience: you search for white bean soup recipes one time on Instagram, and you are bombarded with white bean soup content on the app for seemingly all eternity. Instagram wants to fix that. Starting today, the companys three billion users can have more control over their algorithm via a Your Algorithm feature. Its not quite Bluesky, or the Instagram of yore that only displayed content from accounts users followed, but it does let users select or unsubscribe from different topics. The new feature, which leverages AI, lets users pick topics they want to see more or less of on their explore page. Users will first be able to see a list of suggested topics that their algorithm thinks they are interested in which they can modify. Users can also share their interests to their stories, allowing their followers to see and even replicate some of their feed. [Image: Instagram] We’re always trying to show people the best possible reels for them. After 2020 [we] slowly started figuring out how to do a good job of predicting people’s interests and showing them reels they’d be interested in, Tessa Lyons, Instagrams vice president of product, says. I think we do a pretty good job today, but we don’t always get it right, and we know that people’s interests change. What we really want to do is give people control over the experience that they have on Instagram. In designing the feature, Instagram had to balance Reels’ utility as a discovery tool with the features that give users control over what they will see. The ideal Reels experience is one that helps you go deeper on the interests you already have and then discover new interests that you might not even know about. And getting that balance right is really important, Lyons says, adding, [your algorithm] is one input we have into your Reels experience. So even if you add a handful of different interests, thats not going to be the only content you see. You’re still going to see other content as well. Lyons also says that the feature can help Instagrams algorithm learn about users and serve them relevant content more quickly; after she adopted a cat and tuned her algorithm to feature more kitten content, her feed immediately updated to include relevant reels. In the past, the algorithm may have needed a few days to understand she wanted to see more. By this same measure, the feature will likely improve the ad experience, as Instagram will be able to surface more targeted content for each user based on the interests they signal. According to Lyons, the inspiration for the feature started as a meme on Threads a couple of years ago, when users started writing posts to their respective algorithms, asking it to connect them with different interests, like writers or books. It was just people expressing what they wanted from their Threads experience. Some of them would say, Dear Algorithm, I just dont want to see politics anymore. Im over it, Lyons says.
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E-Commerce
The economy has had a volatile year marked by ongoing headwinds and uncertainties. Persistent inflation, unpredictability around tariffs, and a stock market that many fear is in the midst of an AI-fueled bubble are among the factors impacting consumers’ spending power. But there is one event today that will hopefully deliver some much-needed certainty to the economy and broader markets: the Federal Reserves interest rate cut announcement. Heres what you need to know about a possible Fed rate cut today. What is the Fed rate cut announcement? The Federal Reserve is Americas central bank. One of its main responsibilities is setting the country’s interest rates. These interest rates are set by the Feds primary policymaking body, called the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). The FOMC is led by the chair of the Federal Reserve, who is currently Jerome Powell. The FOMC considers a wide array of data that informs its decision to cut interest rates or not. That data includes labor reports, inflation rates, consumer confidence numbers, and gross domestic product (GDP) information. Once the FOMC analyzes the data, the body will vote to do one of three things: raise interest rates, lower interest rates, or keep interest rates where they are. The current Fed interest rate is 3.75% to 4.00% (375 to 400 basis points). What are the benefits of a Fed rate cut? The main benefit of cutting interest rates is that it lowers the cost of borrowing money. If money is cheaper to borrow, consumers are more likely to take out loans, including mortgages, car loans, and increased credit card spending. Businesses are also more likely to take out loans, since borrowing is cheaper. Companies typically use loans to expand their operations, boost hiring, or buy needed equipment or supplies. Since borrowing is cheaper, lower interest rates can inject more money into the economy, thereby increasing spending. Lower interest rates can also boost the stock and cryptocurrency markets, because when interest rates are lower, safer assets like bonds have a lower rate of return. This spurs investors to put their money into riskier assets, such as stocks or cryptocurrencies, because they have the potential for higher returns. What are the drawbacks of a Fed rate cut? Low rates arent always a good thing. There are drawbacks to lower interest rates, too. When interest rates are lower, anyone with a savings account earns less interest. This can especially hurt retirees, who often have more cash parked in savings accounts than their younger peers, and who may rely on their monthly interest earnings to pay for necessities. Also, while lower interest rates can make everything from houses to cars more affordable, a plethora of cheaper money in the economy can have an inflationary effect, causing prices to rise, which negates the savings gained by the lower interest rates. What is the likelihood of a Fed rate cut? Right now, the current Federal Reserve interest rate is 3.75% to 4.00% (375 to 400 basis points). The Federal Reserve and Powell are under extreme pressure from the Trump administration to lower rates. Because borrowing money would then be cheaper, lower rates would make many Americans feel like their purchasing power is going further as the holidays progress and we head into the new year. That would be a political win for President Trump. But the Fed is supposed to be politically neutral, and Powell has shown no signs that he or the FOMC will make a decision based on politics. That said, many expect the Fed to lower interest rates today, but it likely won’t be by much. Data compiled by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Groups Fed Watch shows an 89.9% chance that the Fed will reduce rates by a 25-basis-point range today. If that scenario plays out, it means the federal interest rate range would drop from 3.75% to 4.00% (375 to 400 basis points) to 3.50% to 3.75% (350 to 375 basis points). When is the Fed rate announcement? The Federal Reserves calendar says it will announce its interest rate decision today, Wednesday, December 10. What time is the Fed rate announcement? The Federal Reserves interest rate announcement will be made at 2 p.m. ET today. How are stocks performing ahead of the announcement? Markets seem to be holding their collective breaths ahead of the Feds rate cut announcement today. As of the time of this writing, in premarket trading, S&P, Dow, and Nasdaq futures are all relatively flat: S&P Futures: down 0.04% Dow Futures: down 0.06% Nasdaq Futures: down 0.12% How are crypto markets performing ahead of the announcement? Many major cryptocurrencies are currently up over the past 24 hours ahead of the announcement. This suggests that crypto traders expect the Fed to cut rates, which could spur a rally in crypto markets. As of the time of this writing, heres how major cryptocurrencies are performing: Bitcoin: up 1.9% Ethereum: up 6.4% XRP: up 0.2% BNB: down 0.5% Solana: up 3.2% How can I watch the Fed rate announcement? The Federal Reserve doesnt actually announce its decision live. Instead, at 2 p.m., it will issue its results via its website. However, at 2:30 pm ET, the central bank will hold a press conference to discuss its decision on interest rates. Youll be able to view a live stream of that press conference on the Federal Reserves YouTube channel.
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E-Commerce
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