SpaceX, the company that made reusable rockets look routine, just delivered a less graceful landing on Wall Street. Shares of Elon Musk’s space venture plummeted 16.4% on June 22, erasing roughly $400 billion in market capitalization in a single trading session.
That makes it the second-largest one-day market cap loss ever recorded for any company in history. For context, $400 billion is more than the entire market value of most S&P 500 companies.
From liftoff to freefall in ten days
SpaceX priced its IPO at $135 per share on June 12, marking its historic debut on the Nasdaq exchange. The stock did what hype-fueled IPOs tend to do on day one: it surged 19%, closing at $160.95.
That first-day pop pushed SpaceX’s market capitalization past $2.1 trillion, instantly making it the sixth-largest public company in the US. The implied valuation at its post-debut highs was approaching $3 trillion.
The IPO also carried a personal milestone. Musk’s substantial stake in SpaceX briefly made him the world’s first trillionaire. By June 22, shares had cratered to $154.60, still above the IPO price but a world away from the post-debut euphoria.
Here’s the thing about that $154.60 close: it’s technically still a 14.5% gain from the IPO price. So early investors who bought at $135 and held their nerve are still in the green. But anyone who chased the stock after that first-day pop is looking at meaningful losses.
What triggered the selloff
The $400 billion evaporation wasn’t caused by a rocket exploding or a contract falling through. The culprits were more mundane but no less destructive: concerns about Federal Reserve rate hikes and good old-fashioned profit-taking.
Mixed analyst ratings didn’t help either. Shortly after the listing, some Wall Street analysts issued sell ratings with target prices that came in below the $135 IPO price.
What this means for investors
SpaceX has operational revenue, a dominant position in commercial launch services, a growing Starlink satellite internet business, and ambitions in orbital infrastructure and AI.
A $400 billion single-day loss signals that the market is recalibrating what it’s willing to pay for SpaceX’s future. The initial $2.1 trillion-plus valuation was driven by excitement and scarcity. The mixed analyst ratings suggest that institutional money isn’t unanimously convinced, and the speed of the selloff demonstrates that liquidity in newly public stocks can evaporate fast when sentiment shifts.
One thing worth watching: whether the $135 IPO price acts as a psychological floor. If SpaceX drifts below its listing price, it could trigger another wave of selling from IPO participants who suddenly find themselves underwater.