SpaceX’s blockbuster IPO is coming. This overlooked industrial company will be a big winner

An important development from the financial markets: Elon Musk 's SpaceX is planning the largest stock debut in history. One likely winner from the deal: an overlooked industrial company founded decades before the Wright brothers ever took to the skies. Industrial gases giant Linde has a small but fast-growing business supplying critical gases to the space industry, enabling the propulsion systems of rocket engines and satellites to get them where they need to go.

Before leaving Earth, Linde's gases also play a key role in making and testing components on spacecraft. Linde has been in the space game for more than six decades, from NASA's Apollo program to today's Artemis II moon mission. With the advent of the commercial space race, the government is no longer the only game in town.

Economic Details

There are many other space companies popping up, but none is bigger than SpaceX. Linde is building a sprawling $100 million plant in Texas near SpaceX to ease delivery. Linde's presence in the space industry is indicative of its behind-the-scenes role in the broader economy.

It may not be a household name. -based, nearly $230 billion market capitalization company has been for more than a century supplying gases such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, and nitrogen to many industries. Among their uses, Linde's gases create the fizz in sparkling waters, provide respiratory support to hospital patients, and help lasers etch billions of tiny transistors onto artificial intelligence chips.

Soon, the low-profile Club name, which we like for its consistent growth and pricing power, may get a jolt from one of the splashiest Wall Street debuts in recent memory. SpaceX confidentially filed initial public offering (IPO) paperwork last month. The Musk venture is seeking to raise as much as $75 billion, at a target valuation of around $1.

Analyst Views

75 trillion, according to . For comparison, Meta Platforms has a market cap of $1. The rocket and satellite maker is targeting a late June listing .

Launching rockets isn't cheap. But with an influx of IPO cash, SpaceX will have plenty of money to advance Musk's grand ambitions in outer space, from bolstering existing Starlink satellite internet service to building orbital data centers , and taking humans to Mars. The connection is simple: More launches from SpaceX mean more gas needed from Linde, which is one of the few suppliers.

Linde is "essentially the Exxon for space," Deutsche Bank analyst David Begleiter said in an interview. He estimated that SpaceX's IPO can help double the size of Linde's commercial aerospace business, taking it to "well over" $1 billion in the "not too distant future. " He added, "If you look at the SpaceX launch schedule, this business has potential to increase multiple times.

Financial markets are tracking the development closely as investors assess the likely impact.