SpaceX (SPCX) stock fell 6% as the post-IPO rally lost steam

TLDR

• SpaceX (SPCX) stock fell more than 6% on Thursday, extending a two-day losing streak after a three-day winning streak.
• The stock is still 30% above its IPO price of $135, despite the pullback
• Retail investors have been aggressively buying SPCX since its debut, with net purchases exceeding $300 million over three sessions.
• Bankers are preparing to issue at least $20 billion in bonds, the first investment-grade US dollar bonds for SpaceX.
• Shares of space-related companies also fell, with AST SpaceMobile stock falling about 7%.

---

SpaceX (SPCX) stock closed down more than 3% on Thursday, then extended those losses after hours to more than 6%, trading at $178.50. The stock rose more than 19% on its first day of trading after going public last Friday, opening at $150 versus an offering price of $135.

Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, SPCX

At its current price, SpaceX’s market cap is about $2.52 trillion. A continued decline could wipe out more than $150 billion in market value.

The decline comes after three consecutive sessions of retail-driven buying since the IPO debut. Vanda Research noted that SPCX topped the leaderboard as the most purchased stock by retail investors for three straight days.

“Retail investors have bought roughly the same amount of SPCX over the past three sessions that they have NVDAGOOGL, AMZN, MSFT, META, QQQ and SPY combined.

This is a number worth sitting with.

However, retail activity was weak on Thursday, which appeared to weigh on the stock as broader markets actually rebounded during the day.

Take profits after achieving a record high

IPOX Schuster analyst Kat Liu described the decline as understandable given the size of the IPO.

“Given the size of the IPO and the strong initial performance, a certain degree of profit taking is not surprising,” Liu said.

“This has been a particularly short and eventful trading week for the largest initial public offering in history,” she added.

The stock’s decline broke a three-day winning streak that was briefly pushed back SpaceX to the five most valuable companies in the world, surpassing the $2 trillion valuation mark.

Other space-related names also declined on Thursday. Rocket Lab and Planet Labs shares fell about 3%, while AST SpaceMobile shares fell about 7% and Intuitive Machines lost about 3%.

Bond deal and index gain in focus

Aside from the trading action, there are two major developments now attracting investors’ attention.

Bankers are preparing to hold investor calls as soon as next week for a potential bond offering expected to total at least $20 billion, Bloomberg reported Thursday. The deal will be SpaceX’s first investment-grade US dollar bond issuance and is intended to refinance a bridge loan due in 2027.

Earlier in the week, SpaceX confirmed that it would acquire Anysphere — the startup behind AI coding tool Cursor — for $60 billion in equity, a move aimed at expanding its presence in the enterprise AI tools market.

Vanda Research noted that SPCX is starting to trade like a “Magnificent Seven” stock, a nod to its heavy retail interest and volatile profile.

With a relatively small public float and high valuation, analysts and portfolio managers are already pointing to the potential for early disruption. Thursday’s hearing was a reminder of that.

The SPCX closed at $185.00 on Wednesday before hitting an after-hours low of $178.50.