Why Did SpaceX Stock Drop Today -- Then Pop?
Key Points
SpaceX stock fell 20% from its IPO price today.
Then it bounced.
One Wall Street analyst reminded investors of the progress SpaceX has made with Starship.
- 10 stocks we like better than Space Exploration Technologies ›
Is the sell-off finally over for Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX) stock?
Shares of Elon Musk's famed space enterprise fell to $107 a share this morning, a near-6% drop that prompted Bloomberg to crow that SpaceX stock had fallen 20% and erased "$1.2 trillion" in value.
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks »
(The actual news was even worse. The first time SpaceX traded on IPO day, it sold for $150 a share. Falling to $107 from that price was nearly a 30% drop!)
But no sooner had Bloomberg's story gone to print, than investors began buying SpaceX stock again. As of 11:50 a.m. ET, the space stock is up 1.3% from yesterday's close.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Did Wall Street save SpaceX?
What turned things around? Well, this morning Bernstein SocGen analyst Douglas Harned stepped in to reiterate his "outperform" rating on SpaceX, insisting the $107 stock is worth twice that -- $239 -- a number even higher than the best price SpaceX fetched in its first three days post-IPO.
Citing the successful launch and soft-water-landing of Ship 40 as part of SpaceX's 13th Starship flight test, Harned pointed out that this is the V3 Ship model SpaceX will use to travel to the moon for NASA. It's the big Ship that will be able to put V2 Mobile and V3 Starlink satellites in orbit.
And it's the Ship that will fulfill Elon Musk's dream of putting artificial intelligence data centers in orbit.
Is SpaceX stock ready to turn around?
This is the bet that may finally work out for SpaceX. Elon Musk predicts putting AI data centers in orbit will unlock a $28.5 trillion total addressable market for SpaceX -- nearly as much revenue as the entire United States generates today.
If he's right about that, SpaceX stock could finally be a buy.
Should you buy stock in Space Exploration Technologies right now?
Before you buy stock in Space Exploration Technologies, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Space Exploration Technologies wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $379,662!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,206,116!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 886% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 206% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of July 28, 2026.
Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Recommended Articles
