Stock in Elon Musk’s space company rose Thursday even after many SpaceX insiders were freed up to sell for the first time. SpaceX shares rose 6.1% to close at $114.92, according to apnews.com. The rebound follows an all-heights employee briefing held by CEO Elon Musk, where he discussed artificial intelligence, Starlink, and the future of the company, as reported by Barron’s.
SpaceX Stock Rebounds Past IPO Price Following Employee Briefing
Prior to the recovery, investors had pushed shares down sharply in anticipation of insiders selling during the first of several lockup expirations. More than 900 million shares became newly available to buy or sell during Thursday’s release, which doubled the previously available supply.
Financial Results and Market Volatility
The stock movement comes on the heels of heavy market volatility for the aerospace company. A day prior to the lockup expiration, shares suffered one of their biggest drops in the company’s short history as a public entity, falling nearly 14%.
Earlier in the week, SpaceX reported a loss of $541 million, or 9 cents per share, for the three months through June—less than half of what financial analysts had forecast. Revenue reached $7.8 billion, marking an increase of more than 90% compared to the year-earlier period.
At the same time, the company posted a massive increase in spending on research, development, and infrastructure, particularly regarding artificial intelligence and other major projects. These large capital expenditure figures have driven investor nervousness and sell-offs across technology companies. In June, Musk sold SpaceX shares to the public in what was recorded as the biggest initial public offering ever, with shares initially jumping as high as $225 and briefly making Musk a trillionaire. Subsequent declines wiped out hundreds of billions in market value, dropping shares below the initial $135 offering price before the recent recovery.
Analyst Outlook and Lockup Expirations
Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas stated that the expiration of lockup provisions barring employees and others from trading presented an opportunity for outside investors to acquire the stock cheaply. Jonas expressed a belief that the stock could rise to $300 by the middle of next year, nearly tripling its level at the time of the release. Morgan Stanley was among the investment banks that earned significant fees for helping take SpaceX public.
Starlink V3 Satellites and Starship Launches
Operational developments have run parallel to the financial shifts. SpaceX prepared for a launch attempt carrying the first 20 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites on Starship Flight 13 from its Texas Starbase site, according to The Motley Fool.
The launch window followed earlier delays: an initial attempt on July 16 was aborted automatically after some engines failed to start, prompting SpaceX to swap out engines before weather postponed a subsequent try. Each V3 satellite is designed to deliver roughly 1 terabit per second of downlink capacity—about ten times the capacity of current generations—forming the foundation of the company’s plan to provide gigabit-speed internet.
Keep reading
