[Edaily Reporter KIM YOON JI ] As the stock price of U.S. aerospace company SpaceX surged on the 12th (local time), short sellers who had bet on a decline in the stock price quickly reduced their positions.
According to data from financial information provider S3 Partners cited by U.S. business news outlet CNBC, SpaceX’s short interest stood at approximately 11% of tradable shares as of that day, down significantly from 34% last week.
This is due to short sellers liquidating their positions in response to the stock price rise, as well as a significant increase in the number of freely tradable shares on the market following last week’s first large-scale lock-up expiration.
Ihor Dusaniuski, Managing Director of Predictive Analytics at S3 Partners, said, “Investors who wanted to short the stock have now run out of ammunition,” adding, “There is a limit to the amount of capital that can be allocated to a single trade.”
The exodus of short sellers occurred amid a sharp rebound in SpaceX’s stock price. Short covering—where short sellers buy back shares to close out their positions—also appears to have added further momentum to the upward trend. With the stock already on the rise, this buying pressure further amplified the gains.
SpaceX’s stock price closed at $146.15, up 9.65% from the previous trading day. During the session, it surged by more than 11%. As a result, the stock price rose about 10% above its initial public offering (IPO) price of $135 and climbed approximately 41% from the low recorded on August 3.
In its first earnings report since going public on the 4th of this month, SpaceX revealed that its capital expenditures exceeded twice its revenue. The stock price fell as concerns grew that massive spending would be required to realize the company’s ambitious business plans.

This attracted a large number of short sellers, and with the number of freely tradable shares on the market limited, the short interest ratio soared to an unusually high level.
On the 6th of this month, the situation changed dramatically. As the initial lock-up period ended, more than 911 million SpaceX shares were newly released. The newly unlocked shares represented approximately 7% of the total outstanding shares, exceeding the 639 million shares sold during the IPO.
As the number of shares in free float increased, the ratio of short positions to tradable shares automatically decreased. However, according to S3, short covering—where investors who had taken short positions bought back shares to close their positions—also contributed to the decline in short positions.
There are also additional shares subject to lock-up periods. According to the prospectus, an additional 319 million shares may be released from lock-up on August 20. Subsequently, approximately 700 million shares are expected to become tradable in September, with a similar volume expected in October.
If these additional shares enter the market, employees and early investors will have more opportunities to sell their shares, which could lead to increased stock price volatility. At the same time, as the number of shares in circulation increases, it may become easier for investors to establish new short positions should bearish sentiment resurface in the future.
Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley maintained its “Overweight” rating on SpaceX the previous day and set a target price of $300. Morgan Stanley highlighted SpaceX’s expansion into the AI business and predicted that “Cursor,” an AI coding startup that SpaceX agreed to acquire in June of this year, could become a key growth driver.