Right now SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) stock is the talk of the town, but the NatWest (LSE: NWG) share price? Not so much.

That’s hardly surprising. Space Exploration Technologies, to use its full name, has just floated after the biggest IPO in history. Its market cap quickly flew to $2.1trn, making it the fifth most valuable company in the world, overtaking Amazon. It’s also created the planet’s first ever trillionaire in Elon Musk. Everything about SpaceX is big. Including its ambition, which is ultimately to develop human life on Mars.

Who wouldn’t want to invest in that? Actually, quite a few and I’m one of them. Right now, I’m far more tempted to buy shares in FTSE 100 bank NatWest. Which is a far more humble operation by comparison.

Which company has better prospects?

NatWest has a market cap of £50bn. Forget fifth biggest company in the world. It’s only the 15th biggest in the UK. And while SpaceX is reaching for the stars, NatWest’s focus is on the nuts and bolts of UK retail and small business banking.

I’m worried that SpaceX has overreached. It made a loss of nearly $5bn in 2025. In the first quarter of 2026, it posted a $4bn loss. It’s xAI artificial intelligence venture is eating cash, as AI tends to do. 

Financially, NatWest is in a very different position. It’s profitable, and those profits are rising nicely.

• 2025 – £7.7bn
• 2024 – £6.2bn
• 2023 – £5.6bn
• 2022 – £5.1bn
• 2021 – £3.8bn

As for cash, it has plenty of that. 2025 results showed a total £4.1bn cash distribution to shareholders. Of this, £2.6bn will come in dividends, and another £1.5bn in share buybacks. The result? NatWest is forecast to offer a dividend yield of 5.62% this year, rising to 6.29% in 2027. SpaceX doesn’t pay any dividends.

Should you favour this FTSE 100 stock?

It doesn’t have a track record of share price growth either, having only just floated. After its stellar start, the SpaceX shares have slipped. On 16 June, they hit $218. Today, they’re at $185. NatWest shares have been flying. They’re up 25% in the last year and 195% over five. Not bad for a supposedly earthbound stock.

NatWest is also likely to slow after such a strong run. Especially with the UK economy struggling. That could hit demand for mortgages and drive up bad debts among both retail and business customers.

Consensus analyst forecasts are against me. Brokers predict the SpaceX share price will hit $255 this year, up 37.7% from today. The forecast for NatWest is 743p, a more modest rise of 16.7% (but with dividends on top). SpaceX has one thing NatWest will never have. Elon Musk. He probably doubles its market cap by his sheer presence.

That said, SpaceX still has to find its real market value after all that IPO hype. I hold it indirectly via the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, and that’s enough exposure for me. But I plan to buy more NatWest shares next week. They look unmissable value with a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.4.

Should you invest £5,000 in NatWest Group Plc right now?

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Harvey Jones owns shares in NatWest Group and Scottish Mortgage.