SpaceX stock has remained largely flat since its debut as a public company on June 12, closing at $160.95 on its first trading day and finishing Friday at $152.71, a decline of roughly 5%. The performance masks significant volatility during the interim period, with shares reaching a high of $211.39 in their third session before declining to near $108 in early August and subsequently recovering through September.
Three primary factors appear to be constraining stock appreciation despite strong operational results. First, a series of scheduled share unlocks is releasing shares held by insiders and early investors, with approximately 911 million shares becoming eligible to trade two days after the August 4 earnings report, followed by 319 million on August 20 and another 319 million earlier in the month. Additional releases of roughly 328 million shares each are scheduled for September 24, October 9, and October 24, with approximately 1.3 billion more to follow after the third-quarter earnings report and about 800 million additional shares on December 8. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk’s stake of approximately 6.4 billion shares remains locked until next June.
The company’s first earnings report as a public entity revealed accelerating growth but also substantial capital spending that surprised investors. Revenue increased 92% year over year to $7.8 billion, while net losses narrowed to $541 million from $1.0 billion in the prior year period. However, capital expenditures reached $18.4 billion during the quarter, more than double revenue, with $15.8 billion directed toward the artificial intelligence segment encompassing data centers, Grok models, and the X platform. AI capital expenditures have escalated dramatically from $749 million a year earlier to $7.7 billion in the first quarter and more than doubled subsequently.
SpaceX’s valuation at its IPO, which raised approximately $86 billion and valued the company near $1.8 trillion, incorporated significant growth expectations. The enterprise value represented approximately 94 times sales based on annualized first-quarter revenue. Current market value sits near $2 trillion, but accelerating revenue growth has reduced this valuation multiple to approximately 65 times sales. The company maintains substantial financial resources, ending June with $100 billion in cash and marketable securities, and has generated $14.1 billion in cloud services agreements during the quarter while achieving more than tripling AI segment revenue to $2.6 billion.
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