SpaceX stock soared to $251 after its launch then came back to Earth. It traded today at $149, less than it opened at after the fixed-price IPO. Virtually everyone who bought it after the bell on day one has lost money, and Elon is no longer a trillionaire.
initial enthusiasm was met with a brutal reality check. Shares have been trailing since late Tuesday, wiping out almost all of the gains of the average investor who bought shares after the IPO, as CNBC reported on Thursday. And anyone who bought close to the stock's peak earlier in the week has seen their investments go up in smoke, in a bruising rejoinder to all of that pent-up hype.
The hype is still constant, but even the most cursory look at SpaceX's numbers was a warning to anyone thinking of rolling the dice. It burns cash like rocket fuel, makes no profits, and depends entirely on spectacular projections that assume it will not only conquer space but dominate the AI industry. If the stock has not yet suffered rapid unscheduled disassembly, the "bear case is as apparent as ever," as Victor Tangermann put it.
Its merger with Musk's AI startup xAI has raised its risk profile even further by weighing it down with debt and a steady drip of controversy.
As with anything involving Musk, the stakes seem larger than life: either his loyal fans will ultimately make it big, or they'll follow him into ruin.
Previously: SpaceX Starlink satellite explodes
