Why SpaceX Stock Sank Today
Key Points
SpaceX has been cleared to test fly its Starship rocket again.
Starship Flight 13 could happen as early as Thursday.
Meanwhile... China may have its own reusable rocket now.
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Is Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX) stock losing its mojo?
One month after its blockbuster IPO, shares of Elon Musk's space company have come full circle, with the stock closing Monday at $139.14, barely above its "official" IPO price -- and more than $10 below where the stock began trading on IPO day.
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And the latest SpaceX news is looking kind of mixed.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Once more, with feeling
Good news first: The Federal Aviation Administration today closed its review of SpaceX's May Starship test flight and cleared SpaceX to test Starship again later this week. Analysts think Musk will waste no time taking the opportunity, and Starship Test Flight 13 is scheduled to take place this Thursday, July 16, at 6:45 p.m. ET.
If SpaceX succeeds in launching on time, it will mean only 55 days elapsed between Flight 12 and Flight 13 -- four times faster than the delay between Flights 11 and 12. In a note this morning, Raymond James analyst Brian Gesuale cited the increased "operational cadence" as reason for optimism about SpaceX stock, doubling down on his "strong buy" recommendation and predicting SpaceX stock that costs $138 and change today, will hit $800 within a year!
Bad news next
But here's the bad news: Investors aren't buying it. They sold off SpaceX stock today -- and I think China may be part of the reason.
Over the weekend, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) launched a reusable Long March 10B rocket from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site on Hainan Island -- then successfully landed it at sea, catching it in a floating frame at sea. The test flight and water landing, called a "complete success," closes the technology gap between SpaceX and China.
It also arguably makes SpaceX a less valuable stock.
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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.
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