Space Exploration Technologies Corp shares fell nearly 5% in early trade on Thursday after about 319 million shares held by early employees and investors became eligible to trade, pushing the stock below its $135 IPO price. The move came as the market digested another large unlock in a staggered schedule that has steadily added supply to the public float.
The Thursday tranche was the 70th in that lockup plan, which is set to release about 88% of SpaceX's 13 billion shares through 2027. For traders, the size matters because a bigger float can mean more stock available for sale, and that has already become a live issue for this company. On Aug. 6, up to 911.5 million shares became tradable and the stock rose 6% afterward, a reminder that the market has not reacted in one straight line to the unlocks.
Scott Wu is in the middle of the other current story around SpaceX, after reports suggested the company was in talks to acquire Cognition. Cognition denied that report, and Elon Musk also denied it, writing that what Scott says is accurate and that SpaceX has not talked with Cognition about anything except making sure Grok works well for their needs. The comments shut down the takeover chatter, but they did nothing to ease the pressure from the share release that hit the stock on Thursday.
That pressure is not finished. A 1.3 billion-share tranche is set to unlock around SpaceX's third-quarter earnings in early November, and another unlock is scheduled for December when the 180-day expiry arrives. Musk's 6.42 billion shares stay locked until June 2027, so the supply coming free this year is still only part of the larger overhang. The immediate question for investors is not whether more shares are coming — it is how much lower the stock can go before the next wave of sellers arrives.
