SpaceX Stock Surges After Share Unlock Puts Investors to the Test And Gets Close To IPO Price

SpaceX shares rallied sharply on Friday, overcoming two major hurdles that many investors expected would send the stock tumbling. Instead, the newly public aerospace and satellite company ended the week with renewed momentum.

The stock climbed more than 15% on Friday and over 25% over the past five trading sessions, which included its first quarterly earnings report as a public company and the largest lock-up expiration since its June initial public offering. Both events were widely viewed as critical tests for investor confidence.

The week began on an uncertain note. On Tuesday, SpaceX reported second quarter results that exceeded Wall Street expectations, with revenue and adjusted EBITDA coming in well above analyst forecasts. However, the stronger-than-expected financial performance failed to reassure investors worried about the company's rapidly rising spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Those concerns centered on capital expenditures, which surged to $15.8 billion during the quarter, more than doubling from $7.7 billion in the first quarter. Investors reacted swiftly, sending the stock down 13.6% on Wednesday, marking a new all-time closing low.

The selloff reflected broader market concerns about whether companies investing aggressively in artificial intelligence can generate sufficient returns to justify soaring infrastructure costs. While SpaceX's revenue growth remained strong, the scale of its spending became the dominant storyline following the earnings release.

On Thursday, approximately 911.5 million previously restricted shares became eligible for trading in the company's first and largest lock-up expiration. The newly unlocked shares represented roughly 43% more stock than the 638.9 million shares originally offered in the IPO, more than doubling SpaceX's public float.

The freely tradable portion of outstanding shares increased from 4.9% to 11.8%, creating concerns that early investors and insiders would rush to sell, flooding the market with additional supply and pushing prices even lower.

Instead, the opposite happened. SpaceX shares gained 6.1% on Thursday, surprising many analysts who had anticipated heavy selling pressure. The stock extended those gains on Friday, getting close to its IPO price: $135.

Unlike many newly public companies that release all restricted shares on a single date, SpaceX structured its lock-up schedule in nine separate tranches spread across several months. Thursday marked only the first, although it was by far the largest release.
That means investors still face additional tests.

Eight more share unlocks remain on the calendar, each with the potential to increase the number of tradable shares and influence market sentiment. While this week's successful absorption of the largest tranche has eased immediate concerns, analysts caution that future performance will depend on the company's ability to continue delivering strong financial results.