SpaceX Stock Slides for Second Straight Day, Shedding ~8.3% in Two Sessions

About a week after completing what has been called the largest IPO in history, SpaceX (SPCX) fell for a second straight trading day. Per Yahoo Finance and Bloomberg, shares dropped as much as ~10% intraday on June 18 before trimming losses to close down more than 3% — bringing the two-session cumulative decline to roughly 8.3%.^{[Yahoo Finance]}

From a Record Debut to Back-to-Back Losses

A quick recap of the stock's short life: SpaceX debuted on June 12 priced at $135, opened at $150, and closed at roughly $161 — up more than 19% on the day — in what CNBC called a "record-setting" first session.^[CNBC]

The stock continued higher after the debut, touching an intraday peak of roughly $225.64 on June 16, per Yahoo Finance. Then came two consecutive down days: June 17, when broader markets sold off amid a more hawkish-than-expected Fed outlook, and June 18, when SPCX kept sliding even as major indexes rebounded. Shares were quoted at roughly $174.90 on June 18, per Investing.com.^{[Investing.com]}

A note on data: for a stock that has traded for less than a week with sharp intraday swings, specific figures — intraday highs, closing prices, and percentage moves — can vary across sources. This article relies primarily on the percentage changes each outlet explicitly reported; all absolute price figures are sourced.

Five Reasons Media Cited for the Pullback

Several outlets weighed in on what drove the selloff. Drawing on coverage from The Motley Fool, WEEX, and others, the most commonly cited factors were:

• Stretched valuation: After surging well above the $135 IPO price, the stock was widely seen as having run ahead of itself.
• Profit-taking: Early buyers locking in gains after a sharp run-up.
• Razor-thin public float: Very few shares are publicly tradeable, meaning even modest selling pressure can move the stock significantly.
• Lock-up concerns: Markets are wary of the additional supply that will hit once insider lock-up periods expire.
• Softer macro backdrop: A more hawkish Fed in mid-June weighed on risk appetite broadly.

Per The Motley Fool, the decline was seen more as "an expected pullback and sentiment cooldown after a sharp run-up" than as any new negative fundamental development. It bears emphasizing that these are media-level attributions, not disclosures from the company itself.^{[The Motley Fool]}

The Nature of Hot-IPO Volatility

SpaceX's early price action is textbook for a high-profile new listing: violent price discovery in the first sessions, wide daily ranges, and extreme sensitivity to any shift in supply and demand. A tiny public float cuts both ways — it supercharges the upside on debut, and it can amplify the downside just as fast when sellers show up.

For a stock this new, a one- or two-day move says more about sentiment and order flow than about long-term value. This article presents publicly available price data and media attributions only and does not constitute investment advice.

What to Watch Next

• Lock-up expiration schedule: When insider shares become freely tradeable, supply increases — the market will be watching the timeline closely.
• Float and volatility: As more shares gradually enter circulation, it will be worth tracking whether daily swings begin to moderate.
• Price action when markets reopen June 22: After the Juneteenth holiday, how SPCX trades in a more normalized volume environment will be the next real read on where sentiment stands.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, trading advice, or any guarantee of returns.