After a stratospheric IPO, shares of Elon Musk’s SpaceX startled tumbling last week, like a flailing Starship prototype struggling to keep its orientation during its descent.
On Monday, the company suffered its biggest single-day loss yet, with shares sliding over 13 percent, hitting a brutal $158 by mid-afternoon. That’s all the way down from its all-time high of over $225 on June 16 — and within a razor-thin margin of its opening price of $150.
Given the company’s astronomical multitrillion-dollar valuation, that translates into a loss of well over $200 billion in market capitalization, a bruising day for anybody who bought in last week.
Even a new deal with open-source AI startup Reflection, estimated to be worth around $6.3 billion, did little to keep investor enthusiasm from deflating this week, with retail buyers already asking some tough questions about the unusual space-and-AI behemoth.
As SpaceX detailed in its Securities and Exchange Commission filings ahead of its IPO, there are a litany of reasons why investors should expect volatility. For one, the company has been burning through billions of dollars in cash, and its road to profitability is as uncertain as ever.
Musk’s track record of making good on his promises is also shaky, to say the very least, undermining his plans to build out an enormous data center constellation in space. Experts have also questioned the plan’s financial viability and physical feasibility.
In short, buying SpaceX is a vote of confidence in Musk, not a decision based on any business fundamentals — and the market’s perspective on Musk fluctuates considerably.
We’re unlikely to see a short-term crisis. SpaceX disclosed today that it’s racked up just over $100 billion cash, leaving it plenty of room to maneuver and pay off short-term bridge financing.
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