SpaceX shares slip below debut price after Nasdaq 100 entry

SpaceX shares closed at $148 on Wednesday, CNBC reported, leaving the stock below its $150 first trading price for a second consecutive session. The decline followed the company’s addition to the Nasdaq 100 on Tuesday, a move that brought Elon Musk’s aerospace and defense contractor into one of the most widely followed US equity benchmarks less than a month after its market debut.

The inclusion came after changes to Nasdaq rules governing when newly public companies can enter the index, according to CNBC. For funds and exchange-traded funds designed to mirror the Nasdaq 100, the change required purchases of SpaceX shares so that portfolios matched the updated index composition.

That mechanical buying did not prevent the stock from extending its retreat below the level where it first traded on June 12. SpaceX had climbed sharply after listing and reached a closing high of $201.80 on June 16, CNBC reported.

Record offering set the scale of the listing

SpaceX’s initial public offering raised $85.7 billion after underwriters exercised the offering’s greenshoe overallotment, according to CNBC. The company initially sold 555.6 million shares at a set price of $135 each.

A greenshoe overallotment is part of the IPO structure that can allow underwriters to place additional shares after the offering. In SpaceX’s case, CNBC reported that the exercise of that mechanism lifted total proceeds to the record figure.

The stock’s first weeks as a public company have therefore combined substantial primary-market demand, rapid index admission and volatile secondary-market trading. The move into the Nasdaq 100 also placed SpaceX in portfolios tied to a benchmark heavily tracked by index funds, exchange-traded funds and institutional investors.

Analysts largely began with positive ratings

Most early Wall Street initiations cited by CNBC were constructive after the Nasdaq 100 announcement. Morgan Stanley started coverage with an “overweight” rating and a $300 price target. Bernstein began with an “outperform” rating and a $239 target. RBC initiated at “outperform” with a $225 target, while UBS started coverage with a “buy” rating and a 12-month target of $210 a share.

According to CNBC, bullish analysts cited SpaceX’s position in reusable rocket technology and launch services, the scale of its Starlink satellite internet business and the potential for margin improvement in both areas.

Analysts also pointed to potential growth from artificial intelligence products and services, CNBC reported. Those possible areas included agentic coding tools that could compete with Anthropic’s Claude or OpenAI’s Codex, as well as orbital data centers.

Coverage was not uniformly positive. CNBC reported that MoffettNathanson initiated SpaceX with a neutral rating, while CFRA recommended selling the shares.

The two-day slide below the debut price underscores the difference between index inclusion, which can create rules-based demand from benchmark-tracking funds, and broader market pricing, which reflects ongoing trading among investors after the listing.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.