Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX) defied expectations Thursday, rising 6.14% even as its first major lockup expiration dramatically expanded the number of tradable shares.
Up to 911.5 million shares became eligible for sale on Aug. 6, the first significant unlock since the company’s blockbuster IPO on June 12.
The IPO initially placed roughly 639 million shares into public hands, meaning the lockup expiration more than doubled the number of shares available for trading.
Despite the surge in potential supply, investors did not flee, and the stock’s resilience offered at least partial relief to those who had braced for heavy selling pressure.
S3 Partners estimated that short interest on the stock’s tradable float could be as high as 36%, suggesting that short covering may have contributed to Thursday’s gains.
SpaceX stock had already dropped more than 10% following its first earnings report as a public company on Aug. 4, making the lockup day a closely watched event for investors on both sides of the trade.
The company’s Q2 2026 results showed revenue of $7.81 billion, beating estimates by 14.6%, with AI segment revenue surging 247% year over year to $2.56 billion and Starlink subscribers doubling to 12 million.
Despite those headline beats, the market reaction to earnings was sharply negative, and SPCX remains down 20% from its IPO price and 52% from its all-time high.
As of Aug. 6, shares open to public trading jumped from under 5% of the total share count to above 12%, with additional tranches of the lockup set to lift on Aug. 20 and again in late September.
The growing float may push up SpaceX’s weighting within float-adjusted benchmarks, potentially expanding its presence across the passive ETF landscape as institutional ownership broadens.
Among related names, Rocket Lab (RKLB) closed at $75.67, up 1.14%, while AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) finished at $67.36, down 1.49%, reflecting mixed sentiment across space-linked equities on the lockup expiration day.
