SpaceX's share price has fallen below its stock market debut just over a month after its blockbuster flotation, wiping billions off the value of Elon Musk's rocket and AI company. The price of a single share dropped to $132.62 on Wednesday, below the initial listing of $135 in June, and is now down 41% from its post-float peak. If the price holds or falls further, investors who bought around the time of the flotation stand to lose money.
The company's initial public offering made Musk the world's first trillionaire, but the stock has been volatile since trading began. Amid a tumultuous few weeks for tech stocks, SpaceX has taken a particular hit: on Wednesday, its shares fell more than 2%, compared to a 0.2% fall on the wider Nasdaq index where it is listed.
“SpaceX shares fell below their June IPO price, down 41% from peak, as AI-driven investor frenzy fades.”
After an initial investor frenzy that valued SpaceX higher than Amazon and Microsoft, shares have drifted downward. Analysts say the stock was initially treated as a rare chance to invest in an AI company, after SpaceX acquired Musk's AI start-up xAI – now renamed SpaceXAI – earlier this year. That business, best known for the controversial chatbot Grok, leases data centre capacity to other tech firms.
However, SpaceX's core business remains rocket launches and Starlink satellites. When Starlink announced price cuts in Memphis, Tennessee amid local concerns over a massive data centre project, shares fell 8%.
Steve Sosnick, chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers, told Reuters: 'There hasn't been anything that lately to remind people of some of the catalysts for why they bought SpaceX.'
SpaceX is expected to release its first public earnings report in August. Sosnick added: '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.'
The company did not respond to a request for comment.