Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX has seen its share price sink below its stock market debut just over a month after going public, wiping out early gains and leaving recent investors facing losses.
The price of a single share fell to $132.62 (£98.24) on Wednesday, slipping beneath the initial listing of $135 in June. Compared with its on-the-day high since floating, the stock is now down 41% – a sharp reversal from the frenzy that briefly valued the company above Amazon and Microsoft.
“SpaceX shares fall 41% from peak, dropping below $135 IPO price after just over a month.”
SpaceX’s initial public offering made Musk the world’s first trillionaire, but the hype has evaporated. Even as tech stocks have endured a tumultuous few weeks, SpaceX has taken a particular hit: its shares fell more than 2% on Wednesday, against a 0.2% decline on the wider Nasdaq index where it is listed.
According to financial analysts and experts who recently spoke to the BBC, investors initially treated SpaceX as their first opportunity to bet on an AI company. Earlier this year, SpaceX acquired Musk’s AI start-up xAI, recently renamed SpaceXAI, which is best known for the controversial chatbot Grok. Through that acquisition, SpaceX now leases data centre capacity to other tech firms.
But the company’s core business remains rocket manufacturing and launches, along with its Starlink satellite telecommunications network. When Starlink announced price cuts in the Memphis, Tennessee area amid local concerns over a massive data centre project, SpaceX shares dropped 8%.
“There hasn’t been anything lately to remind people of some of the catalysts for why they bought SpaceX,” Steve Sosnick, chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers, told Reuters.
SpaceX is due to release its first public earnings report in August, a milestone that could either revive investor confidence or deepen the sell-off. Sosnick cautioned: “The fact that a stock has fallen a couple of dollars below its IPO price in itself is not a tragedy, but SpaceX is heavily watched and has an important role in investor psyche.”
If the price holds or falls further, those who bought around the flotation will stand to lose money on their investment. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
