ET Intelligence Group: Grasim Industries‘ acquisition of Sprng Energy is a strategic bet on India’s fast growing solar power sector, which is expected to help its renewable energy business outpace the group’s overall revenue growth. Revenue of renewable energy business is estimated to surge 382% to ₹4,446 crore by FY28, compared with a 31% anticipated increase in the group’s consolidated revenue at ₹53,736 crore, according to Motilal Oswal Financial Services. Analysts estimate the segment currently generates around ₹900 crore in annual revenue, accounting for about 2% of the group’s revenue. Its share is expected to rise to around 8% by FY28.

The company’s renewable business has been showing momentum, with year-on-year 60% growth in revenue at ₹251 crore and 55% growth in operating profit before depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) at ₹199 crore.

Building materials remains Grasim’s largest business. With ₹1 lakh crore in revenue, the division contributed 58% to FY26 revenue. Financial services, the second largest segment, contributed 26% while cellulosic fibres accounted for 10% of revenue. The remaining 6% share was of chemicals segment.

The implied acquisition cost of ₹17,200 crore for a five giga watt (GW) capacity is below the current investment required to develop a comparable greenfield solar project. This translates into an implied valuation of about ₹3.4 crore per mega watt (MW). The portfolio comprises of around 3.3 GW of operational assets and 1.7 GW capacity under construction. According to the industry estimates, a greenfield solar power project in India currently costs around ₹4 crore to ₹5.5 crore per MW, implying that Grasim has acquired Sprng’s portfolio at a discount.

However, the acquisition is expected to increase the financing burden. Since the deal will be funded through a mix of debt and equity, interest costs are likely to rise, which may weigh on near-term profitability. However, Grasim’s leverage remains moderate, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.3 (excluding borrowings related to its financial services business) and net debt of ₹36,915 crore at the end of FY26. This indicates the company has sufficient balance sheet capacity to absorb the additional debt.

According to Motilal Oswal Financial Services, the acquisition is likely to be largely debt funded, with Grasim’s equity contribution estimated at around ₹2,430 crore. The higher borrowing costs may reduce the company’s standalone FY28 earnings per share (EPS) estimates by about 8%.

Shares of Space Exploration Technologies fell 1.65% on Wednesday, trading at $133.84, down $2.24 on the day, continuing a slide that has pushed the stock below its June initial public offering price of $135 per share and near its all-time low of $136.78, reached just two days earlier.

Wednesday’s decline extends a difficult stretch for SpaceX shares since the company’s landmark Nasdaq debut, which ranked as the most valuable initial public offering in history. The stock reached an all-time high of $225.64 on June 16, meaning shares have now fallen more than 40% from that peak in the roughly one month since SpaceX began trading publicly.

FAA Clears Path Toward Next Starship Test Flight

Despite the stock’s recent weakness, SpaceX received positive operational news this week when the Federal Aviation Administration completed its review of a booster issue that occurred during the company’s Starship test flight in May. The FAA’s completed review clears the path for SpaceX to proceed toward Starship’s 13th test flight, pending remaining safety and licensing requirements.

That development has drawn renewed analyst attention to the stock, with several firms reiterating bullish price targets ahead of the anticipated launch. Raymond James has maintained a price target implying more than 470% upside from current trading levels, according to recent analyst commentary, while Evercore has turned more bullish on the stock specifically ahead of the upcoming Starship test flight.

A Volatile Post-IPO Trading Pattern

SpaceX’s stock has exhibited significant volatility since its public debut, reflecting both the scale of investor interest in the company and genuine uncertainty about how to value a business spanning launch services, satellite broadband and artificial intelligence operations. The stock’s beta coefficient of 5.79 reflects an extraordinary level of volatility relative to the broader market, among the highest of any major publicly traded company.

The stock had briefly traded as high as $148 following its addition to the Nasdaq 100 index in early July, before beginning a sustained slide that brought shares down toward, and eventually below, their original IPO price within a matter of days.

Analysts Debate How to Value the Company

SpaceX’s unusual combination of businesses has made the company particularly difficult for analysts to value using traditional frameworks. MoffettNathanson analyst Zhu recently characterized SpaceX as an especially challenging company to value given the diversity of its operations, spanning traditional rocket launch services, the Starlink satellite broadband network, and an artificial intelligence segment that includes the Grok large language model and the X social media platform.

Despite that valuation complexity, Wall Street sentiment toward the stock remains predominantly positive. According to recent tracking data, 26 analysts currently recommend buying SpaceX shares, compared with just one sell recommendation, resulting in an overall Buy rating consensus. The average 12-month price target sits at approximately $242.22, with individual estimates ranging as high as $800 and as low as $62, reflecting the unusually wide range of opinion on the company’s appropriate valuation.

High-Profile Investor Activity

SpaceX’s stock volatility has continued to attract attention from prominent institutional investors. Cathie Wood’s investment firm recently swapped $23 million worth of Advanced Micro Devices shares for SpaceX stock, according to recent trading disclosures, reflecting continued institutional interest in the stock despite its recent pullback from all-time highs.

Separately, investor Chamath Palihapitiya has publicly suggested that a potential merger between SpaceX and Tesla could offer strategic and financial benefits for both companies, despite acknowledging potential hurdles to such a combination. JPMorgan has separately characterized the possibility of a Tesla-SpaceX tie-up as “strategically coherent,” while flagging potential operational bottleneck concerns tied to such a merger.

Continued Operational Milestones

Beyond the upcoming Starship test flight, SpaceX has continued announcing new commercial partnerships and operational developments in recent weeks. Frontier Airlines announced plans to launch in-flight Wi-Fi using SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network beginning in early 2027, extending Starlink’s growing footprint within the commercial aviation sector.

SpaceX has also maintained an extraordinarily high launch cadence, having logged approximately 165 total launches over the past year and accumulating nearly a decade of experience with Falcon 9 first-stage rocket reuse, underscoring the operational maturity of its core launch business even as investors continue debating the company’s overall valuation.

Financial Performance Remains a Question Mark

SpaceX’s most recent quarterly net income figures showed a loss of approximately $4.28 billion, a significant deterioration from a loss of $528 million during the prior quarter, according to recent financial data. The company does not currently pay dividends to shareholders, and its next earnings report is scheduled for August 6, which will provide investors with updated visibility into the company’s financial trajectory following its public listing.

A Company Still Finding Its Public Market Footing

Market analysts have generally characterized SpaceX’s recent stock weakness as part of a broader post-IPO adjustment period, in which speculative early trading gives way to more grounded valuation debates as investors work to reconcile the company’s ambitious long-term growth narrative with near-term financial realities, including substantial ongoing losses tied to its capital-intensive space and AI infrastructure investments.

With SpaceX’s next Starship test flight now cleared to proceed following the FAA’s completed safety review, investors are likely to treat the upcoming launch as a key near-term catalyst for the stock, given Starship’s central role in the company’s long-term ambitions for deep-space missions and its broader space transportation business. Should the test flight proceed successfully, some analysts believe it could help stabilize sentiment toward the stock following its sharp post-IPO decline, while any further setbacks could add to the uncertainty that has already characterized SpaceX’s first month as a publicly traded company.

Dave & Buster’s is taking its arcade experience deeper into nightlife with a new nationwide rave series.

The restaurant and entertainment chain is teaming up with events company Brownies & Lemonade for Rave & Buster’s, a seven-city tour featuring surprise guest headliners and multi-genre music lineups, according to an Instagram post from Brownies & Lemonade.

The events will feature house, bass, dubstep, trap, UK garage and other electronic music genres.

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Brownies & Lemonade said the tour builds on the success of its “DNBNL” events at Dave & Buster’s locations, which it said prompted fans to ask for more artists, genres and cities.

“After the success of our DNBNL series at Dave & Buster’s over the last few years, we’ve received so many requests to expand the concept to include more artists and genres,” the events company said.

“Rave & Buster’s will feature surprise guest headliners and multi-genre lineups featuring the sounds of Bass, House, Trap, Dubstep, UKG, and everything in between.”

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The tour is scheduled to run from July 30 through Dec. 30 with stops in Honolulu; Denver; Dallas; Brooklyn, New York; Orlando, Florida; Irvine, California; and Milpitas, California.

The series will also include shows during Halloween weekend and the week leading up to New Year’s Eve.

Presale tickets became available Wednesday, while general tickets go on sale Thursday, July 16.

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The tour comes as Dave & Buster’s continues expanding beyond arcade games, sports and family entertainment by adding more food, entertainment and nightlife options, according to USA Today.

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Dave & Buster’s began hosting rave-style events at select locations in 2023, the outlet reported.

Dave & Buster’s could not immediately be reached by FOX Business for comment.

Mark Harding
President, CEO, Principal Executive Officer & Director

Yes. I’m Mark Harding, and I’d like to welcome you all. What we try and do each year is give an opportunity for folks to come out and kick the tires and then it’s getting harder and harder to get out and sort of visit companies and with technology, what it is today and our ability to kind of show visually it through earnings presentations and investor presentations and whatnot, the actual company visit is sort of waning.

But what I always like really is the opportunity to show it because when we describe it, when we report it on the balance sheet, you get a picture of it. But when you actually come out and have an opportunity to see what’s going on, on the development side, what’s going on, on the water utility side, a perspective of the growth of the Denver area and some of what we still continue to be the value — our secret value, which is our service area, Lowry and those sorts of things, it does give you a different perspective. And as much as we try and describe that perspective, seeing it, driving it, getting that actual imagery is truly valuable.

And I know a lot of you either on the call or who listen us on the replay have had that opportunity to see it. But one of the things that we did this year that we wanted to concentrate a little bit different on just because there’s a lot to see is taking a look at our service area, taking a look at where our water originate, what’s going