SpaceX shares have started to run out of steam after the IPO. The stock climbed 42% from the offering price before stalling by Thursday, with premarket trading in the US showing barely any movement after a 5% pullback the day before.
That does not erase the eye-catching debut. The stock briefly pushed SpaceX to the fifth-largest company in the world by market value, ahead of Amazon. But the first wave of buyers has already done a lot of the heavy lifting, and the next stretch may look a lot less theatrical.
SpaceX share price after the IPO
CNBC said the stock rose only 0.3% in Thursday premarket trading to $195.45 a share. The move follows Wednesday’s modest correction, suggesting investors are pausing to decide whether the post-listing excitement still has room to run or whether the easy money has already been made.
- Gain since the IPO: 42%
- Wednesday move: down 5%
- Thursday premarket move: up 0.3% to $195.45
Roelof Botha joins the board
SpaceX also added longtime Musk ally Roelof Botha to its board after the IPO. He will serve as an independent director and join the audit committee, which brings the board to eight members under Musk’s chairmanship.
On paper, that sounds like governance getting a little more conventional. In practice, Musk still controls more than 82% of the voting power, so the board’s room to push back is limited. That structure suits a founder who likes speed, control, and very little argument.
Musk is already selling the next number
On Sunday, Musk said on X that SpaceX could reach $1 trillion in annual revenue by 2030. It is an audacious target even by Musk standards, and it arrives just as the market is deciding whether the stock’s first sprint was a one-off or the start of a longer climb.
The bigger question is whether SpaceX can keep public-market investors excited without the novelty of the listing. Early trading has already shown the usual pattern: a frenzy, a pause, and then the awkward business of proving the valuation is more than a very expensive mood.