SpaceX shares slide below IPO price as global tech rout deepens

SpaceX shares fell sharply in premarket trading on Tuesday, threatening to push the company's market capitalization below $2 trillion for the first time since its record-breaking initial public offering less than two weeks ago. The stock traded near $148 before the opening bell, slipping below its June 12 debut price of $150, after closing Monday at $154.60 following a 16% single-day plunge that wiped roughly $400 billion from its market value.Bloomberg+1

The selloff marked the fourth consecutive session of declines for the aerospace and AI company, which peaked at nearly $3 trillion in market capitalization on June 16. Over three trading days through Monday's close, SpaceX shed more than $600 billion in value — a decline Bloomberg reported as the second-largest one-day loss ever suffered by any company.The Irish Times+1

A Broader Tech Reckoning

SpaceX's slide coincided with a sweeping global technology selloff on Tuesday. South Korea's Kospi plunged 10%, triggering a circuit breaker halt, while the Nasdaq Composite fell more than 2% and the S&P 500 declined 1%. Chipmakers bore the brunt of the damage, with Micron Technology ↗ 4.52% dropping more than 11%, Nvidia ↘ 0.66% falling over 3%, and ASML ↗ 2.01% losing nearly 5% in Europe.cnbc+3

The retreat reflected rising anxiety over stretched AI valuations and shifting interest rate expectations. Market pricing now points to 50 basis points in Federal Reserve rate increases by year-end — double what investors anticipated two weeks earlier.MoneyCheck

Bonds, Deals, and Post-IPO Volatility

The selling pressure intensified after SpaceX announced on Monday its inaugural offering of senior unsecured notes, seeking to raise approximately $20 billion to repay bridge loan borrowings from the IPO. The company disclosed roughly $100.8 billion in cash reserves. Separately, SpaceX signed a computing-power agreement with open-source AI startup Reflection AI worth up to $6.3 billion, granting the startup access to Nvidia GB300 chips at SpaceX's Colossus 2 data center near Memphis, Tennessee, with payments of $150 million per month beginning July 1.TechCrunch+4

The volatile trading underscores the fragility of SpaceX's post-IPO valuation. The company debuted on Nasdaq ↗ 3.71% on June 12 at $135 per share, raising $75 billion in the largest IPO in history. Shares peaked above $225 within days before reversing course. Tom Hulick, CEO of Strategy Asset Managers, told CNBC he does not view the selloff as catastrophic: "There's too much liquidity out there, and the earnings momentum is very strong right now".reuters+4