SpaceX shares surge 35% post-lockup, adding $500B in market cap

SpaceX just added about $500 billion in market value. After a lockup expiration that most investors feared would crater the stock, shares surged 35%, turning what was supposed to be a pressure event into a launchpad.

From IPO darling to rollercoaster to record rally

To understand how SpaceX got here, rewind to June 12, 2026. The company priced its IPO at $135 per share, raising approximately $75 billion in what became the largest initial public offering ever. The initial float was kept deliberately tight, under 5% of outstanding shares, roughly 639 million shares available for trading.

That scarcity did what scarcity does. Shares rocketed to nearly $225 in the weeks following the debut, a roughly 67% gain from the offering price.

Then gravity kicked in. SpaceX’s first quarterly earnings report as a public company revealed heavy capital expenditure tied to its AI ambitions, and investors got cold feet. The stock cratered more than 40% from its post-IPO peak, falling below the $135 offering price and bottoming near $108 ahead of the lockup expiration.

That set the stage for August 6, 2026, the first major lockup expiration date. Up to 911.5 million additional shares became eligible for trading, more than doubling the tradable float from under 5% to approximately 12%. Shares gained roughly 6% on the expiration day itself, then continued climbing, rising as much as 16% in subsequent sessions.

The road ahead: more unlocks, more volatility

This was just the first of several supply events on the calendar. SpaceX structured its lockup on a staggered schedule, and the tradable float is expected to grow to approximately 40% by December 2026. That means billions of additional shares could hit the market over the next several months.

One notable detail: Elon Musk’s personal stake remains locked until mid-2027. That means the company’s largest shareholder and most visible figure can’t sell for nearly another year.

The AI spending question hasn’t gone away, either. The capital expenditure that spooked investors after the first earnings report remains a feature of SpaceX’s strategy. The company is investing aggressively in AI capabilities alongside its core launch and satellite businesses.

For context, $500 billion in added market value puts SpaceX in rarefied air. That single post-lockup move is larger than the entire market capitalization of most S&P 500 companies.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.