911M SpaceX Shares Unlock, Doubling Public Float
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- SpaceX is unlocking up to 911.5 million shares Thursday, more than doubling the publicly available float from the less than 5% that debuted at its record-setting June 12 IPO.
- SpaceX stock (ticker: SPCX) sank almost 14% Wednesday to close at $108.27—the second-worst day on record—after Tuesday's earnings revealed larger-than-expected capital expenditures on AI.
- Shares are down roughly 50% from the June 16 record high and 20% below the $135 IPO target price, erasing roughly $1 trillion in market value since the public debut.
- SpaceX follows a staggered, tiered lockup calendar rather than the typical 180-day cliff, with more than 5 billion of its 7.571 billion Class A shares potentially becoming available this year.
- Elon Musk's shares, representing more than 40% of the company's value, remain locked up until one year after the IPO, per the article.
- The unlock could push SpaceX's Nasdaq 100 weighting from about 1% to above 3.5% at the September rebalance, according to TD Securities.
- Employees and early investors who bought pre-IPO likely hold sizeable gains, creating natural sellers entering the market, according to Direxion's Ryan Lee.
Why it matters: The Thursday unlock more than doubles the float while employees who bought pre-IPO sit on substantial gains, with Direxion's Ryan Lee expecting natural sellers to enter the market. SpaceX's Nasdaq 100 weighting could rise from ~1% to above 3.5% at the September rebalance, per TD Securities, and the stock has already shed $1 trillion in value since its June 12 IPO.
