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SpaceX Shares Slide From Post‑IPO Peak to Low $120s After Engine Failures

A tiny tradable float, heavy short interest and a staggered lockup that frees huge tranches after early‑August earnings raise the odds of further big swings in the stock.

Overview

  • SpaceX shares trade in the low $120s as of July 21, down roughly 40–45% from the mid‑June post‑IPO high and back below the $135 offering price.
  • The stock drop intensified after SpaceX aborted Falcon 9 and Starship launches for engine failures, and the company rescheduled a Starship test for July 23.
  • Market mechanics have amplified moves because the IPO left only about 4–5% of shares freely tradable, index fast‑tracks forced ETF buying early on, and reported short interest sits near 17 percent of the float.
  • Fundamentals show Starlink as the main profit driver with about $11.4 billion of 2025 revenue while the AI and space units have posted large operating losses and the company has sold notes to fund further AI and Starship work.
  • Investors face two near‑term tests that will shape liquidity and sentiment: the July 23 Starship flight and the company’s Q2 earnings release in early August that triggers staged lockup releases that could add hundreds of millions of shares to the market.