Bernstein Reaffirms Outperform on SpaceX, $248 PT

Bernstein SocGen Group analyst Douglas Harned reiterated an Outperform rating and $248 price target on SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX).

“Success to orbit; Starlink V3s deployed; SpaceX completed Starship Launch 14 on Monday, marking the third flight of the V3 configuration.

This version is designed to deploy Starlink satellites, support future orbital data center launches, and deliver lunar and eventually Mars missions. Launch 13 largely repeated Launch 12.

Launch 14 was a major step forward in Starship’s capabilities. The booster had a successful splashdown. The Starship second stage lost one engine, which put the orbital goal at risk.

But, SpaceX decided to go to orbit, as the engine affected was not to be used again in the flight. Starship successfully reached orbit for the first time, representing a key milestone for the program.

A critical part of this launch is performance of the heat shield in Starship reentry. While it appeared visually sound to us, tiles will need to be examined.

Some tiles from Launch 13 were used on this flight to test behavior in reuse. We may see a catch of the second stage on Launch 15. But, that is not certain and will also depend on FAA approval.

Three engines failed in Launch 14: Two of the 33 booster engines failed, as did one on Starship (but, not the center engines needed to go to orbit). We do not yet know the cause of the engine issues.

But, the FAA said the failures were not a sufficient aberration to require an investigation.”

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