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SpaceX Stock Falls Below $125 After Starship Scrub
SpaceX shares fell below $125 after a scrubbed Starship launch, wiping out roughly $1 trillion in market value since the June 16 peak.
Image: Hacker News
SpaceX shares fell to a new low Friday, extending a sharp reversal just five weeks after the rocket and AI company’s record-breaking IPO. The stock dropped 5% on Friday and was trading below $125 shortly before midday ET.
Shares first slipped below their $135 IPO price Wednesday, reaching $132.75 before recovering to close above the offering price. On Thursday, they closed at $131.11—their first finish below the IPO level.
SpaceX has now lost roughly $320 billion in market value since its IPO day and about $1 trillion since its June 16 peak. The company raised more than $85 billion in its June 12 IPO, the largest public debut in history.
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Starship launch scrub adds pressure
The latest sell-off followed SpaceX’s decision to cancel its first Starship launch since going public. The flight had been scheduled for Thursday at the company’s Starbase facility in South Texas.
“Some of the engines didn’t start, triggering an automatic launch abort.” Musk said SpaceX would try again with a target of “early next week.” “To be confident of a good flight, 2 Raptors will be removed & replaced.”
The scrubbed mission was intended to mark Starship’s return to flight after the upgraded V3 vehicle debuted in May and ended with a booster mishap. The fully reusable rocket is central to SpaceX’s plans to launch its next-generation Starlink satellites. NASA has also contracted a modified version to land astronauts on the moon through its Artemis program.
Lockup expirations add selling pressure
Investors are also watching upcoming lockup expirations. Rank-and-file employees and some early investors will be able to sell 911.5 million shares shortly after SpaceX’s first quarterly report, expected in August. Further restrictions are scheduled to expire in the following months.
Investors who bought shares at the IPO price are now underwater.
Georgia Hennessy is a fellow at Business Insider’s London office. She previously worked at Japan’s largest newspaper, The Yomiuri Shimbun, and interned at the Financial Times.
Enterprise Editor
Marcus follows the money. He covers enterprise software, cloud architecture, and the tectonic shifts in Big Tech strategy. He translates dense earnings calls and complex M&A activity into actionable insights about where the industry is actually heading. If a tech giant makes a silent pivot, Marcus is usually the first to notice.
via Hacker News
