Key Takeaways
- SPCX closed at $131.11 on July 16, down 3.08% and below its $135 IPO price for the first time.
- SpaceX raised a record $86 billion in its June 12 IPO and shares topped $225 before the slide.
- SpaceX holds 18,712 BTC worth about $1.19 billion, among the largest corporate bitcoin treasuries.
A Retreat Ensues
The close capped a multi-day slide for Elon Musk’s rocket company, given shares had already touched an all-time low of $132.75 intraday on Wednesday before recovering to end that session at $135.27 (pennies above the IPO price). Thursday’s session erased the cushion entirely, with Bloomberg describing the drop as “hype fading.”
The reversal is stark when measured against the debut. SpaceX raised a record $86 billion in its June 12 listing, making it the largest IPO in history. Subsequently, the stock jumped 19% on its first day to close at $161, with valuations eventually topping out at $225 during the first month of trading. The run cemented Musk’s status as the world’s first trillionaire.
From that peak, the stock has now shed more than 40% and analysts point to a cluster of causes, i.e. investors locking in gains after one of the most hyped debuts in memory, a reassessment of the company’s valuation, a failed launch attempt of the upgraded Starship V3, concerns about upcoming lock-up expirations that will free early holders to sell, and a broader tech selloff.
In Wall Street parlance, SPCX is now a “broken IPO,” a label that tends to pressure sentiment until a fundamental catalyst resets the narrative.
The Bitcoin Angle
For crypto markets, SpaceX is more than a rocket stock, especially since the company disclosed holdings of 18,712 BTC ahead of its listing, a treasury worth about $1.19 billion at current prices that ranks among the largest corporate bitcoin stashes. Combined with Tesla’s 11,509 BTC, Musk-linked companies hold over 30,000 BTC.
The debut also became a corporate-adoption talking point as Strategy head Michael Saylor noted after the IPO that a quarter of the market’s biggest technology companies now hold bitcoin on their balance sheets. And the stock’s volatility has already produced dramatic crypto-adjacent headlines, with an earlier plunge wiping $150 billion from Musk’s net worth in a single day, even as Ark Invest bought the dip.
Bitcoin itself traded just below $63,000 on Thursday, down about 1.9%, as risk assets pulled back broadly.
Looking ahead, there are a few key data points to keep an eye out for, namely the timing of lock-up expirations, Starship V3’s return to flight, and the company’s first earnings report as a public company. Whether SPCX can reclaim its $135 offering price may hinge on all three, and until it does, the world’s most valuable space company will carry Wall Street’s least wanted label.