BROWNSVILLE, Texas — SpaceX stock plunged below its initial public offering price this week, wiping out roughly $1 trillion in market value since its June peak. A halted rocket launch and upcoming insider selling restrictions fueled a massive market selloff.
The company’s shares closed at $131.11 on Thursday, marking the first time the stock finished below its $135 IPO price. The downward spiral continued Friday as shares tumbled another 5%, trading below $125 by midday.
SpaceX has now lost about $320 billion in market value since its historic public debut on June 12. Early investors who bought at the IPO price are now losing money on their investments.
The latest stock drop occurred right after SpaceX aborted its first Starship launch since going public. The launch was scheduled for Thursday at the Starbase facility in South Texas.
“Some of the engines didn’t start, triggering an automatic launch abort,” CEO Elon Musk said in a post on X.
Musk stated that the company will swap out the faulty parts to ensure safety. “To be confident of a good flight, 2 Raptors will be removed & replaced. Most probable launch timing is early next week,” Musk added.
This scrubbed flight was meant to be a major comeback for Starship. It follows a May test of the upgraded V3 vehicle, which ended in a booster accident.
Starship is critical to the financial future of SpaceX. The reusable rocket is built to deploy next-generation Starlink internet satellites. NASA also hired a modified version of the vehicle to land astronauts on the moon for the Artemis program.
Market analysts note that upcoming stock lockup expirations are also hurting share prices. Regular employees and early investors can sell 911.5 million shares shortly after the first quarterly report in August. This threat of new shares flooding the market has created heavy selling pressure
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