TLDR
- SPCX fell ~4.8% on Friday, trading below $125 — now below its IPO price from last month
- SpaceX scrubbed the 13th Starship test flight after two Raptor engines failed to ignite
- CEO Elon Musk said the engines will be replaced, with the next launch attempt expected early next week
- The stock has lost over $1 trillion in market value since its June peak of $2.64 trillion
- Analysts say a successful Flight 13 is key ahead of SpaceX’s first earnings call in early August
SpaceX stock fell as much as 4.8% on Friday, hitting a fresh post-IPO low below $125 per share. That puts it roughly $10 below its IPO price from last month, officially making it a broken IPO.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., SPCX
The sell-off followed the scrub of Starship’s 13th test flight, which was aborted just minutes before liftoff from Texas on Thursday night.
Two Raptor engines on the Super Heavy booster failed to ignite, triggering an automatic abort. CEO Elon Musk confirmed the issue on social media, saying the engines would be removed and replaced.
“To be confident of a good flight, 2 Raptors will be removed and replaced,” Musk posted. “Most probable launch timing is early next week.”
The aborted launch is SpaceX’s first major test since its June IPO. The company’s market value has now dropped from a peak of $2.64 trillion on June 16 to around $1.65 trillion at Friday’s open — a loss of nearly $1 trillion.
It’s worth noting that Starship’s 12th test flight in May also had engine issues and drew an FAA investigation. Engine reliability has been a recurring theme.
Why Starship Matters
Starship is central to several of SpaceX’s biggest goals. It’s the only rocket currently capable of carrying Musk’s next-gen V2 Mobile and V3 Starlink satellites to orbit.
It’s also NASA’s designated vehicle for returning astronauts to the moon under the Artemis program’s Human Landing System contract.
What Analysts Are Watching
Wolfe Research analyst Myles Walton said a clean Flight 13 would boost confidence heading into SpaceX’s first earnings call, expected in early August.
Walton also flagged a supply concern. Around 1.2 billion additional shares are expected to become free-to-trade in August.
“Getting a clean Flight 13 will be important to have into that potential supply influx, particularly given the persistent stock fade in recent weeks,” Walton wrote.
The stock has been sliding since hitting its post-IPO high, and it dipped below its IPO price earlier this week before Friday’s drop extended those losses.
Despite the sell-off, some analysts argue the reaction is overdone. A few-day delay to replace engines is a routine part of rocket development — and is arguably safer than attempting a launch with engines that didn’t ignite.
The stock was trading around $124.80 as of midday Friday, with a 52-week range of $122.14 to $225.64.
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