SpaceX shares fall below $135 IPO price for first time since June

In short: SpaceX shares fell below their $135 IPO price for the first time since the company went public in June.

What happened

SpaceX stock slipped under $135 a share on Wednesday, according to the Financial Times. That is the first time it has traded below its initial public offering price, also called the IPO price (the price set when the stock first starts trading on the stock market).

The shares peaked at about $225 in mid-June. Since then, they have fallen about 40%. The Financial Times said the drop has erased about $800bn from the value of Elon Musk’s wider group of companies since a peak shortly after SpaceX’s public debut.

SpaceX raised $86bn in its IPO, at a valuation above $2tn. Musk owns about 42% of the company, and the FT said the value of his stake has fallen to about $760bn from about $1.2tn over the same period.

The slide is not limited to the stock. Bonds SpaceX issued in late June have also fallen sharply. Bonds are a type of IOU (like lending money to a company and getting paid back later with interest). SpaceX also raised about $25bn in debt three weeks ago, and the FT said it has since been among the worst performers in the high-grade bond market.

Why it matters

SpaceX’s drop is part of a wider cooling in expensive tech stocks, as investors worry about higher US interest rates and whether large AI spending will pay off. For everyday savers, this is a reminder that hot new stocks can move fast in both directions, a bit like buying a ticket for a ride that can turn suddenly.

Source: Financial Times