[Edaily Reporter Lim Yukyung ] With the first post-IPO lock-up period for SpaceX ending on the 6th (local time), more than 900 million shares held by early investors became tradable. Contrary to initial concerns that the lifting of the lock-up would trigger a flood of profit-taking and cause the stock price to fall, SpaceX’s stock price actually rose that day. This is interpreted as a surge in bargain-hunting buying amid a sharp drop in the stock price following the company’s first quarterly earnings announcement two days earlier.

On the 6th (local time), SpaceX’s stock closed at $114.92 on the New York Stock Exchange, up 6.14% from the previous trading day. The stock posted a significant gain even as 912 million shares—the first tranche of the phased lock-up period established during SpaceX’s initial public offering (IPO)—became available for trading.

This is interpreted as retail investors, who have strong faith in Elon Musk’s vision for a “space artificial intelligence (AI) platform company,” stepping in to buy at lower prices.

SpaceX’s stock price plummeted 14% on the 5th, the day after its first earnings announcement. This was driven by a combination of growing concerns over excessive AI investment—following the announcement of AI investment levels that exceeded Wall Street expectations—and the looming pressure of the lock-up expiration. As a result, SpaceX’s stock price has fallen 43% from its post-IPO high.

Nevertheless, buying momentum from retail investors has not waned. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing Vanda Research, reported that even on the 5th—when the stock price plummeted following the earnings announcement—retail investors made net purchases of approximately $23 million worth of shares during the first hour of trading. Since the IPO, retail investors have not turned to net selling on a single day.

Gally Russell, a retail investor specializing in tech stocks who has long supported Musk’s ventures, recently posted on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that SpaceX’s prolonged downtrend represents an “incredible buying opportunity.” That same morning, Musk himself replied to the post, commenting, “I agree.”

However, some analysts predict that investors’ faith in Musk could be put to the test once the lock-up period ends and shares begin to hit the market in earnest.

The 912 million shares released this time account for approximately 7% of the total outstanding shares. This is more than the 639 million shares SpaceX supplied to the market at the time of its IPO.

According to SpaceX’s securities filing, an additional 319 million shares will be released from lock-up on the 20th, followed by approximately 700 million shares in September and a similar number in October, with these shares becoming tradable sequentially. The lock-up period for the more than 6 billion shares held by Musk remains in effect until June 2027.

Greg Martin, co-founder of Rainmaker Securities, a platform for trading unlisted stocks, told CNBC, “In the short term, the impact of the lock-up expiry could influence the stock price more significantly than the company’s fundamentals or strategy.”