SpaceX Stock: Cathie Wood Buys the Dip as Shares Fall Below IPO Price

What’s Happening with SpaceX (SPCX) Stock?

Imagine a company’s stock is like a toy that everyone wanted at first, but then some kids put it back on the shelf. That’s kind of what happened with SpaceX.

• SpaceX (whose stock ticker is SPCX) had a super popular start on the stock market (called an IPO—that’s the first time a company sells its shares to the public) in June.
• Right after listing, its price jumped more than 67% above the starting price of $135.
• But lately, the stock dropped sharply and even fell below that original $135 price for the first time.

Important Point: Even though the stock was a Wall Street favorite at first, it has now become one of the biggest debate topics among investors.

Cathie Wood Buys the SpaceX Dip

Cathie Wood is a famous investor who loves tech companies. When she sees a stock price drop, she sometimes buys more—like buying a toy on sale.

• ARK Invest (the company Cathie Wood founded) bought about $16.7 million worth of SPCX shares when the price went below its IPO price.
• This was on top of more than $50 million of purchases earlier in the month.

More News from Barchart

Here’s the detailed breakdown of Cathie Wood’s recent buying:

• On Wednesday, July 15, ARK Invest bought approximately $16.6 million to $16.7 million of SPCX stock.
• Four ARK funds joined the purchase:
  1. ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK)
  2. ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW)
  3. ARK Space & Defense Innovation ETF (ARKX)
  4. (A fourth fund also participated, buying about 123,000 shares total across all)
• This made SpaceX the sixth-largest holding in ARKK.

Wood has been buying aggressively all July:

1. Week ending July 10: ARK bought roughly $52.1 million of SPCX.
2. July 13: Added another $21.3 million.
3. By July 15: Total weekly purchases passed $36 million across multiple funds.

Important Point: These big buys show Cathie Wood is a very aggressive buyer of SpaceX stock, even as the price falls.

Why SPCX Stock Has Fallen Below Its IPO Price

The stock is now down about 44% from its highest point after the IPO and is below the IPO price.

A few reasons explain the drop:

• Investors worry about SpaceX spending a lot on AI (artificial intelligence—computers that can learn) after buying a company called xAI.
• People expect SpaceX to keep spending big money on building things, which makes some investors nervous.
• A lockup expiration is coming in August. (A lockup is a period when early investors can’t sell; when it ends, about 20% of shares can be sold, possibly pushing the price down more.)

Even with the drop, Cathie Wood kept buying instead of selling.

Important Point: Even after the fall, SpaceX is still one of the most expensive large company growth stocks out there.

• It trades at about 95 times trailing sales (that means its price is 95 times the money it made from selling things in the past year).
• For comparison, Nvidia (NVDA) trades at about 24 times sales, and other big tech companies are even lower.
• If SpaceX grows as experts guess (about 95% more sales this year), its future price-to-sales looks closer to 34 times, which is more reasonable.

SpaceX Is Spending Heavily to Build More Than a Rocket Business

Most people know SpaceX for rockets that can be used again. But it’s becoming a bigger tech company.

• It runs about 9,600 Starlink satellites that give internet to roughly 10.3 million users in 164 countries.
• Earlier this year, SpaceX bought xAI (an AI company from Elon Musk) using only stock (sharing ownership instead of cash).
• It keeps investing in many areas:
  • Finished its 13th Starship test flight, sending 20 new Starlink V3 satellites for super-fast internet.
  • NASA picked Starlink’s laser tech for the Artemis III moon mission, boosting government work.

The Latest Results Show Strong Growth but Massive Spending

SpaceX’s report for early 2026 (first quarter) looks like this:

• Revenue (total money from sales) rose about 15% from a year before to $4.69 billion.
• But it lost $4.28 billion overall (about $1.27 per share after adjustments) because of AI and rocket spending.
• It also used more cash than it made: negative free cash flow of $9.06 billion after spending $10.1 billion on big purchases.

One good thing: after the IPO, SpaceX has about $100.8 billion in cash, so it can keep funding its plans.

Wall Street guesses:

• Second-quarter revenue around $6.8 billion.
• Full-year revenue between $22 billion and $24 billion (meaning growth later in the year).

What Does Wall Street Think About SPCX Stock?

Even with the price drop, many experts are hopeful.

• Barchart data: 33 analysts say “Moderate Buy” with average target price $234.45 (about 86% higher than now).
• Morgan Stanley: “Overweight” (means buy more) with $300 target.
• Goldman Sachs: “Buy” with $205 target.
• Needham: raised target to $250.
• Raymond James: super bullish with $800 target (thinks SpaceX could be a top AI company in 10 years).

Important Point: The big difference between optimistic and skeptical views shows how controversial SpaceX is. Cathie Wood sees the drop as a sale; the rest of the market will agree only if SpaceX starts making money from its AI and building spree.

Summary

SpaceX stock soared then slipped below its first sale price. Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest bought millions more during the dip. The stock fell due to AI spending worries, future share selling, and high costs, yet SpaceX is growing fast with satellites, AI, and moon projects. It still loses money but has huge cash. Wall Street mostly thinks the stock will rise, with targets up to $800, but others remain unsure.

FAQ

1. What does “buying the dip” mean?
It means buying a stock after its price has dropped, hoping it will go back up later.

2. Why is SpaceX stock considered expensive?
Because its price is about 95 times the sales it made last year, much higher than many other tech giants.

3. What is a lockup expiration?
It’s a time when early investors are first allowed to sell their shares; it can lower the stock price if many sell.

4. Who is Cathie Wood?
She is the founder of ARK Invest and a well-known investor who buys lots of tech and innovation stocks.

5. Is SpaceX only a rocket company?
No, it also provides satellite internet (Starlink), owns an AI company (xAI), and works with NASA on moon missions.