SpaceX made history with the largest IPO ever recorded. Then it spent its first full week as a public company giving a significant portion of that historic value back. By the close of trading Friday, shares had fallen 17.2% for the week, shaving more than $500 billion off a market capitalization that had briefly surpassed $2.5 trillion in its opening days.
Where the stock stands after a rough debut
SpaceX priced its IPO at $135 per share and opened its first day of trading at $150 before closing near $161. That $150 level became a psychologically important floor for the stock, representing roughly $2 trillion in market value. This week, shares slipped beneath it before bouncing back above the mark by the end of trading Friday. The recovery was modest but enough to keep the stock from closing below the threshold that most retail investors and market watchers had circled as a meaningful line.
The slide still leaves SpaceX in uncomfortable territory. Its current market cap of roughly $2 trillion puts it ahead of many profitable technology giants on valuation alone, despite the company reporting a $4.9 billion net loss in 2025. The bulk of those losses, approximately $6.35 billion, came from the AI segment acquired through SpaceX’s purchase of xAI in February. Starlink, by contrast, remains highly profitable and continues to serve as the financial backbone of the business.
The bond deal that raised more questions than it answered
The week’s biggest catalyst for investor concern was SpaceX’s $25 billion bond sale, which was upsized from an initial $20 billion target after drawing nearly $90 billion in orders. The demand was impressive on its face. The timing was harder to explain away. A company that just raised $85.7 billion through its IPO turning around to borrow tens of billions more within days of going public prompted pointed questions about what exactly the cash is for and whether the market’s appetite for SpaceX paper is running ahead of the business fundamentals.
For bond investors, the post-sale picture has not been encouraging either. Paper losses on the debt offering have climbed to approximately $305 million relative to benchmark U.S. Treasurys since the bonds began trading, according to Bloomberg, suggesting the initial enthusiasm among institutional buyers has cooled somewhat in the secondary market.
Allianz chief investment officer Ludovic Subran, speaking at the FT Global Insurance Summit this week, pointed to SpaceX’s back-to-back capital raises as evidence of markets transitioning from a stretched environment into genuine bubble territory, a characterization that has circulated widely and added a layer of unease to the conversation around the stock.
OpenAI quietly pumping the brakes
Adding to the cautious mood around AI and space-related stocks, reports emerged this week that OpenAI has pushed back the timeline on its own long-anticipated public offering, with the company potentially delaying its IPO to 2027. Investors have widely read that decision as a signal that the window for peak enthusiasm around AI company valuations may be narrowing, particularly as the sector grapples with rising expenses and slower-than-expected cash flow growth.
The Starlink mobile wildcard
Not every development this week pointed downward. The Financial Times reported that SpaceX is exploring an entry into the consumer mobile market through a Starlink-based wireless service that would sell plans directly to consumers. If it moves forward, such a venture would put SpaceX in direct competition with established carriers while giving the company a recurring revenue stream it currently lacks in meaningful scale. Recurring revenue is exactly what a $2 trillion valuation needs as its foundation, and the prospect of a direct-to-consumer Starlink mobile product gives long-term bulls something concrete to point to.
What long-term investors should consider
Retail enthusiasm for SpaceX remains high, with the stock consistently ranking among the most discussed names on major investing forums. But enthusiasm and fundamentals are not the same thing, and several near-term headwinds remain firmly in place. Lockup expiration periods following the IPO will bring additional sellers into the market. The company will eventually report its first quarterly results as a public company, and further losses are widely expected. Early investors sitting on paper gains will face growing temptation to take profits as the stock continues to find its level.
The case for patience centers on Starlink’s profitability, the long-term potential of the AI segment and SpaceX’s structural advantages in space launch economics. For investors thinking in decades rather than weeks, the current volatility may eventually look like a reasonable entry point. For everyone else, the next few months are likely to remain uncomfortable.
Story credit: Yahoo