SpaceX Stock Falls 16% After Revealing Debt Plan

The sell-off came only weeks after a record-setting debut. SpaceX's initial public offering (IPO) on 12 June raised nearly $86 billion, the largest ever, briefly lifting Musk to the status of the world's first trillionaire; the stock opened at $150 and closed almost 20% higher at $192.45. Everyday traders helped drive the rally, buying around $405 million of shares in the first five sessions. Yet the company is spending heavily: it lost close to $5 billion last year on capital expenditure of $20.7 billion, and first-quarter outlays reached $10.1 billion, with AI alone accounting for $7.7 billion. Starlink, its satellite-internet arm and a growing government contractor, was the company's only profitable division in 2025. In February, Musk merged SpaceX with his AI start-up, xAI.

If completed, the bond sale would make SpaceX the latest technology giant to rely on debt to finance costly AI projects, joining Alphabet, Amazon and Nvidia, which have signalled similar moves. Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities described investors as 'skittish' about the wave of borrowing but called it 'par for the course in this AI arms race.' Others questioned whether the firm's valuation rests on solid ground. Scott Martin of Kingsview Wealth Management argued that buyers were drawn less by current fundamentals than by faith in Musk, Starlink and the promise of industries that 'don't fully exist yet,' warning that expectations had become very high.