SpaceX (SPCX) stock tumbled again on Monday, giving it three straight down days after a massive run-up following its IPO earlier this month. SpaceX also confirmed its first-ever bond issuance in a filing.
SpaceX shares closed down 16.4% on Monday, the biggest down day for the newly debuted stock, following a 3.6% drop on Thursday (US markets were closed on Friday for the Juneteenth national holiday) and a 5% drop on Wednesday. The three-day losing streak caps a big pop in the stock following its IPO and first day of trade on June 12.
Shares are now up only 14% from SpaceX’s IPO price of $135. Note that shares opened at $150 on their first trade. At one point during the stock’s run-up to a high of around $225 a share, SpaceX topped Amazon (AMZN) and even Microsoft (MSFT) to become the fourth-most-valuable public company.
Also on Monday morning, SpaceX confirmed its first-ever bond sale in a filing. Although the company did not reveal the size of the bond offering, SpaceX confirmed that it “intends to use the net proceeds from the Notes offering to repay the outstanding borrowings under its bridge loan facility in full” and for other related fees and expenses. Bloomberg reported late last week that SpaceX was prepping an offering in the $20 billion range.
The bridge loan in question was secured earlier this year when SpaceX, led by CEO Elon Musk, acquired Musk’s own xAI startup in February.
Per Reuters, Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley provided the bridge financing and are expected to run the deal, one source said.
Debt offerings can at times weigh on stock prices as investors grow concerned about interest expense and the negative implications of a company’s need for additional funding. Though this offering was expected in some sense, it may be another reason for shares to slip to the downside.
Another factor looming is the expiry of equity lock-up periods, which could put more downward pressure on the stock.
22V Research strategist Jeff Jacobson told Yahoo Finance that there is a 20% insider share unlock after Space’s earnings announcement in early to mid-August.
In addition, there is a 10% share unlock if the stock trades 30% above the IPO price, as well as 7% share unlocks set for around Aug. 21 and then again on Sept. 10.
Jacobson said insiders could potentially sell 44% of SpaceX shares by early September, increasing the current float by about 900%. SpaceX’s current float is around 4.2% following its IPO.
