SpaceX stock fell below its $135 initial public offering price for the first time, closing at $131.11 on July 17, 2026, after the company aborted a Starship test flight the previous day. An engine ignition failure forced SpaceX to scrub the launch during its 90-minute window in Texas on Thursday evening, triggering a 5.43% decline that extended a five-day losing streak for the space and AI company.
Founder Elon Musk confirmed the abort in a post on X, saying “Some of the engines didn’t start, triggering an automatic launch abort.” Musk later announced that two Raptor engines would be removed and replaced, with the next launch attempt planned for early the following week. The test flight was meant to be SpaceX’s first Starship launch since its blockbuster IPO on June 12, 2026.
The stock’s weakness extends far beyond the launch abort. SpaceX shares have plummeted nearly 23% since the company joined the Nasdaq-100 on June 26, just two weeks after going public. According to Yahoo Finance, the company has lost roughly $320 billion in market value since IPO day and is down approximately $1 trillion from its June 16 peak of $225 per share, when the stock surged 66% in just four days following its public debut.
From Record IPO to Sharp Selloff
SpaceX raised a record $85.7 billion in the largest initial public offering ever, pricing shares at $135. The stock opened at around $150 on its first trading day and climbed to $225 intraday before momentum reversed. Analysts attribute the initial surge to a combination of publicity around a high-profile company coming to market and limited supply—only about 5% of the company’s shares were made available to the public.
The subsequent decline reflects what experts call a typical post-IPO correction combined with investor concerns about the company’s profitability. David Brown, a professor of finance at the University of Arizona, told ABC News that SpaceX achieved the largest IPO of all time “before it had turned a profit.” SpaceX reported revenue of $18.7 billion in 2025, up 33% year-over-year, but posted a loss of $4.9 billion that year. “Will it make money, and will it make enough money to make all of this worthwhile?” Brown said.
Dominic Pappalardo, chief multi-asset strategist at Morningstar Wealth, explained that enthusiasm from the IPO’s headlines faded as SpaceX moved out of the spotlight. “Some of that demand has subsided, and you see the price falling precipitously along with that,” Pappalardo told ABC News. Even favorable developments—such as SpaceX’s inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 index, which typically attracts fund investment—failed to arrest the decline, as analysts said the expected buying had already been priced into the stock.
The Federal Aviation Administration cleared SpaceX to conduct test flights on Monday after closing an investigation into the company’s 12th Starship flight in May, which saw the Super Heavy booster crash into the Gulf of Mexico. That clearance preceded Thursday’s abort, which marked a setback for a company working to demonstrate Starship’s reliability as it pursues government contracts and its own orbital ambitions.
Sources
- CNBC — SpaceX stock decline since Nasdaq-100 addition, engine ignition failure details, Musk’s statements on engine replacement and launch timing
- MarketWatch — SpaceX shares closing below IPO price at $131.11, five-day losing streak, Starship test flight abort details, analyst commentary from Bernstein on Starlink and future launches
- Yahoo Finance — Market value loss figures ($320 billion since IPO, $1 trillion from peak), stock price data
- ABC News — Expert analysis from David Brown (University of Arizona) and Dominic Pappalardo (Morningstar Wealth) on IPO surge and selloff, company revenue and loss figures, FAA clearance timeline
