SpaceX Shares Are Sliding: A Contrarian Buying Opportunity Worth Considering

Space Exploration Technologies' (NASDAQ: SPCX) first few weeks as a public company have already reminded investors that even great businesses can become volatile stocks. SpaceX shares surged in the days after the company went public in early June 2026, hitting an intraday high of $225.64.

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Since then, the stock has pulled back and is down to around $162. The stock remains above its $135 IPO price and is still far from cheap. But the sell-off has made the risk-reward question more interesting.

Here are a few factors for investors to consider before buying a stake in this dominant space, satellite internet, and AI infrastructure company.

Starlink is a profitable business

The clearest reason supporting the contrarian case for SpaceX is its Starlink satellite internet business. Starlink-powered connectivity business contributed about 60% of SpaceX's $18.7 billion in revenue and generated $4.4 billion in operating income in 2025. Starlink also had 10.3 million users at the end of the first quarter of 2026. Although SpaceX posted a $4.94 billion net loss in 2025, Starlink gives the company a profitable business that can help fund its broader growth ambitions.

Additionally, the Federal Communications Commission approved SpaceX to deploy 7,500 additional second-generation Starlink satellites, bringing the authorized Gen2 satellite count to 15,000. This approval should help the company increase broadband capacity, expand mobile connectivity services, and improve global coverage over time.

AI-powered demand and index addition

SpaceX's AI infrastructure business is already securing major customer commitments. Alphabet agreed to pay SpaceX $920 million per month from October 2026 through June 2029 for compute capacity, including access to about 110,000 Nvidia GPUs. Anthropic has also agreed to use the full computing power of SpaceX's Colossus 1 facility, which houses more than 220,000 Nvidia processors and will provide the Claude maker with 300 megawatts of new capacity. According to Reuters, the two compute deals are worth about $26 billion annually if contracts are not terminated before their scheduled end dates.

SpaceX is also set to join the Nasdaq-100 on July 7, giving it a place in an index of major nonfinancial companies listed on the Nasdaq. According to estimates from J.P. Morgan cited by Reuters, funds tracking the index may need to buy about $4.3 billion of SpaceX shares to reflect the company's addition.

Short interest has also climbed to 196 million shares, or about 31% of the shares available for public trading. While these investors are betting against SpaceX, if the stock starts rising again, some of those short sellers may have to buy shares to close their positions. This could further fuel the stock's rebound.

Certain risks cannot be ignored

SpaceX is trading at nearly 81 times trailing-12-month sales. This is a demanding multiple for a company that is still loss-making and spending heavily on several growth initiatives.

The next-generation reusable rocket system, Starship, could become a major long-term growth driver for SpaceX. But NASA's inspector general has warned that delays and the challenge of refueling the vehicle in space still make it a major execution risk.

SpaceX may be worth considering for investors comfortable with a premium valuation and significant execution risk.

Manali Pradhan, CFA has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.