SpaceX shares fall as post-IPO frenzy loses steam

Shares of SpaceX dropped more than 6% on Thursday, as the post-IPO ​frenzy that briefly placed Elon Musk's rockets-to-AI firm among the world's top five most valuable ‌companies appeared to fizzle out.

The stock was last down 6.5% at $178.50, after falling nearly 5% in the last session. It was still more than 30% above its $135 offering price.

If the losses persist, SpaceX's market value of $2.52 trillion ​would shrink by more than $150 billion on Thursday.

"Given the magnitude of the ​IPO and the strong initial performance, some degree of profit-taking is ⁠not surprising," IPOX Schuster analyst Kat Liu said.

"This has been a particularly eventful and ​shortened trading week for the largest IPO in history," she added.

Shares of other U.S. ​space companies were also down. Rocket Lab and Planet Labs dropped around 3%, while AST SpaceMobile (ASTS.O), opens new tab and Intuitive Machines declined around 7% and 3%, respectively.

Retail investors bought up SpaceX shares aggressively for ​the last three sessions, with a total net purchase of over $300 million. Activity, ​however, was muted on Thursday, with only $9.1 million worth of net purchases noted as of 2:00 ‌p.m. ET, ⁠according to Vanda Research.

Due to its relatively small public float and high valuation, analysts and portfolio managers have cautioned investors to anticipate volatility early in SpaceX's life as a public company.

SpaceX's valuation surged past $2 trillion following its blockbuster Nasdaq debut last week. ​Its shares soared in ​their first two ⁠days of trading before giving up some gains as investors assessed whether the company's rich valuation can be justified by its ​costly AI push.

SpaceX said on Tuesday it would buy Anysphere, ​the startup ⁠behind the popular AI coding agent Cursor, for $60 billion in stocks to boost its presence in the lucrative enterprise AI tools market.

The company's bankers are preparing to meet investors as ⁠early as ​next week to discuss a bond offering of ​at least $20 billion, a source said on Thursday, as the company seeks funding for its ambitious AI expansion.

-Reuters