SpaceX just added about $500 billion in market value. After a lockup expiration that most investors feared would crater the stock, shares surged 35%, turning what was supposed to be a pressure event into a launchpad.
From IPO darling to rollercoaster to record rally
To understand how SpaceX got here, rewind to June 12, 2026. The company priced its IPO at $135 per share, raising approximately $75 billion in what became the largest initial public offering ever. The initial float was kept deliberately tight, under 5% of outstanding shares, roughly 639 million shares available for trading.
That scarcity did what scarcity does. Shares rocketed to nearly $225 in the weeks following the debut, a roughly 67% gain from the offering price.
Then gravity kicked in. SpaceX’s first quarterly earnings report as a public company revealed heavy capital expenditure tied to its AI ambitions, and investors got cold feet. The stock cratered more than 40% from its post-IPO peak, falling below the $135 offering price and bottoming near $108 ahead of the lockup expiration.
