SpaceX (SPCX) instantly became a retail capital magnet. The stock is now giving early buyers their first gut check.
SpaceX stock is down for a third straight trading day, shaving off more than 30% from its June 16 peak of $225.64. Shares closed at $154.60 and are now up only 3% from their $150 opening print, though they remain about 15% above the $135 IPO price.
The slide comes after SpaceX’s massive post-IPO run briefly made it more valuable than Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT). It also comes as investors look ahead to a future supply question, with insiders potentially able to sell a chunk of locked-up shares after the company reports earnings in early to mid-August.
The pressure is landing after the biggest retail buying wave that Vanda Research has ever tracked around a major IPO.
SpaceX vs. Magnificent 7: Net retail buying from June 12 through June 18 (SpaceX’s first 5 days), in millions of dollars. ยท VandaTrack
Retail investors bought a net $405 million of SpaceX during its first five trading sessions, according to VandaTrack data. That made SpaceX “comfortably the strongest retail IPO debut in recent history,” Vanda wrote.
The buying also put SpaceX in competition with the market’s biggest stocks for retail dollars almost immediately.
Retail investors bought more SpaceX stock from June 12 through June 18 than they bought across the “Magnificent Seven” over the same stretch and more than they bought in SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) combined.
Vanda argued that the flows increasingly look like retail investors “building long-term positions rather than chasing a short-term meme stock.”
But that read is now running into a rougher tape.
SpaceX’s first week proved retail wanted in. The first hard sell-off will show whether that money sticks.
Jared Blikre is the global markets and data editor for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X at @SPYJared or email him at jaredblikre@yahooinc.com.
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