SpaceX Stock Falls Below IPO Price After Starship Test Aborted at the Last Second

What happened to SpaceX stock?

SpaceX shares fell sharply on July 17, 2026, extending a losing streak that has now stretched to six consecutive sessions. The stock closed near $124, down about 5.4% on the day and roughly 45% below the $225 intraday high it hit shortly after its Nasdaq debut in June. The immediate trigger was an aborted Starship test flight the previous evening: during the countdown for the rocket's 13th test flight, four of the 33 Raptor-3 engines on the Super Heavy booster failed to ignite, triggering an automatic safety shutdown seconds before liftoff.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed the abort on X, saying "some of the engines didn't start, triggering an automatic launch abort," and that two Raptor engines would be replaced ahead of another attempt, which he said could come "hopefully in a few days." The scrubbed mission was intended to deploy 20 Starlink V3 satellites as mass simulators and test an in-space Raptor engine relight — and notably, it was the first Starship flight using the V3 hardware version since the company's IPO.

Why this test mattered so much to investors

SpaceX went public on June 12, 2026, in what CNBC described as the largest IPO in US history by proceeds raised — approximately $75 billion, at a $1.75 trillion valuation, with shares pricing at $135. The stock briefly surged above $225 before reversing hard, first slipping below its IPO price in mid-July and continuing to slide through the Starship abort. As of Friday's close, SPCX had fallen nearly 23% since being added to the Nasdaq-100.

The roadshow that preceded SpaceX's IPO leaned on two central growth stories: Starlink, the satellite broadband business that gives SpaceX recurring subscription revenue, and Starship, the heavy-lift rocket pitched to investors as the vehicle for future lunar contracts, point-to-point Earth transport, and eventually Mars missions. Starship hasn't been directly implicated in the broader stock slide, but as one of the company's clearest and most visible operational milestones, a scrubbed test flight lands differently on a newly public stock than it would have on a private company insulated from daily market reaction.

The financials behind the slide

SpaceX's 2025 financials, now public for the first time as a listed company, show a business that is growing quickly but still posting significant losses: revenue of $18.7 billion for 2025, up 33% year-over-year, alongside a net loss of $4.9 billion. The company reported a further $4.3 billion loss in the first quarter of 2026. SpaceX also raised $25 billion in bonds in June to help fund AI infrastructure, adding to the capital-intensity story investors are now weighing against the stock's volatility.

There's also a share-supply overhang on the horizon. After SpaceX's first quarterly earnings report as a public company, expected in early August, roughly 911.5 million previously locked-up shares — worth an estimated $123 billion — will become eligible for trading, with additional lockup windows falling in September and December. A large new supply of tradable shares hitting the market during a period of investor uncertainty could add further pressure on the stock.

What analysts are watching next

JPMorgan analyst Seth Seifman noted that Starship's flight cadence is expected to be uneven by design as SpaceX works toward a stated goal of dozens of launches next year and hundreds by 2028 — meaning more scrubs and setbacks should be expected along the way, not treated as one-off crises. Whether investors continue to read routine test-flight turbulence as a red flag, or start pricing it in as the normal cost of an ambitious launch cadence, will likely shape SPCX's trading pattern heading into its first post-IPO earnings report.

Why did SpaceX stock drop in July 2026?

SpaceX shares fell after the company aborted a Starship test flight seconds before liftoff on July 16, 2026, due to an engine ignition failure. The stock had already been declining for several sessions and dropped further below its IPO price as a result.

When did SpaceX go public?

SpaceX completed its IPO on June 12, 2026, raising approximately $75 billion at a $1.75 trillion valuation — the largest IPO in US history by proceeds raised.

Is SpaceX stock below its IPO price?

Yes. As of July 17, 2026, SPCX was trading around $124–$126, below its $135 IPO offer price and roughly 45% below its post-IPO intraday high of $225.