Part of this had to do with investor appetite for SpaceX stock, which was one of the hottest IPOs<\/a>\u00a0in history.<\/p>\n Much of the oversubscription, however, related to how little stock was actually made available for sale. Less than 5% of shares were available for public trading. Early investors, employees, and founder Elon Musk control the rest.<\/p>\n But that’s set to change soon. And by Oct. 31, just in time for Halloween, the number of publicly traded shares could soar due to one catalyst.<\/p>\n Expect SpaceX’s share lockup schedule to look like this <\/p>\n Most IPO stocks set lockup restrictions on major shareholders during a public sale to prevent them from cashing in immediately and affecting the short-term stock price. Often, major shareholders need to wait 180 days before shares become available for them to sell, should they wish to. SpaceX’s lockup period is a bit more nuanced.<\/p>\n Business Insider wrote, “SpaceX’s unlock calendar looks a little different, using staggered release dates at predetermined timelines and milestones.” Some shares are unlocked after 70 days, others after 90 days, with bigger unlock amounts triggered after second-quarter earnings and third-quarter earnings.<\/p>\n The biggest unlock date is in June of 2027, when Elon Musk is eligible to begin selling his huge 42% stake. Still, the number of publicly available shares is set to double by the end of August 2026, with one-third of shares unlocked by the end of October. That’s a huge increase from today’s publicly tradable shares. The real test won’t come until the lockup period expires, Business Insider wrote.<\/p>\n Perhaps the shares struggle once the publicly traded float expands heavily. But there could be more catalysts<\/a> in the meantime that prop up the price.<\/p>\n SpaceX, for example, qualified for Nasdaq’s new fast-entry rule. It will join the index after 15 days of trading, forcing funds that track the benchmark index to buy shares while the float remains relatively low.<\/p>\n In the end, the most important long-term catalyst for the stock price will be the company’s underlying business performance. But share-unlocking schedules have had an impact on past major IPOs. Given that SpaceX’s current public float remains below 5%, anything can happen once this figure balloons.<\/p>\n Should you buy stock in Space Exploration Technologies right now? <\/p>\n Before you buy stock in Space Exploration Technologies, consider this:<\/p>\n The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the\u00a010 best stocks<\/a> for investors to buy now\u2026 and Space Exploration Technologies wasn\u2019t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.<\/p>\n Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation,\u00a0you\u2019d have $417,305!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you\u2019d have $1,293,148!*<\/p>\n Now, it\u2019s worth noting\u00a0Stock Advisor\u2019s total average return is 936% \u2014 a market-crushing outperformance compared to 207% for the S&P 500.\u00a0Don’t miss the latest top 10 list, available with\u00a0Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.<\/p>\n See the 10 stocks \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n *Stock Advisor returns as of June 20, 2026. <\/p>\n Ryan Vanzo<\/a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Long](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0f5d23059989eb2edce85343daa1fde9.jpeg\")
Image soruce: Getty Images. <\/p>\n