Short sellers pile into SpaceX as stock falls to IPO price

Short sellers have piled into SpaceX, with roughly 29% of the public float now sold short as shares hover near the $135 IPO price. Bearish bets have ballooned to about $25 billion after the stock slid roughly 20% in July and briefly dipped below its listing price for the first time.

Key Takeaways

• About 185 million SpaceX shares are sold short—roughly 29% of the public float and about $25 billion in bearish wagers, per S3 Partners data cited by CNBC.
• Short interest jumped from an estimated 40 million shares (about 5% to 7% of float) just three weeks ago.
• Shares fell about 20% in July, briefly traded under the $135 IPO price, and recently hovered near $136.
• A thin IPO float (~5% of ~13 billion shares) and upcoming lockup releases are fueling supply fears among bulls and shorts alike.
• Elon Musk's paper wealth has fallen below the trillion-dollar mark as SpaceX stock deflated from its post-IPO peak.

For readers tracking volatile growth names and income-minded portfolio tactics, BlasterPost covers related market themes in our Wealth Hacks & Passive Income section.

Why are short sellers loading up against SpaceX now?

According to CNBC, short sellers are rapidly increasing bets against SpaceX as the stock struggles around its IPO level. About 185 million shares are now sold short, representing roughly 29% of the company's publicly tradable float and about $25 billion in bearish wagers, based on S3 Partners data.

That position has ballooned from an estimated 40 million shares—or roughly 5% to 7% of the float—just three weeks earlier. Matthew Unterman, head of research at S3, told CNBC the firm is seeing continuous demand from short sellers building speculative positions since the IPO.

The timing matters. SpaceX shares have fallen about 20% in July and briefly slipped below the $135 IPO price for the first time on Wednesday, with the stock last trading around $136. A retreat to the listing price after a splashy debut often invites more short interest, especially when supply overhang is coming into view.

How far has SpaceX stock fallen from its post-IPO peak?

Yahoo Finance reports that SpaceX shares have been scraping near record-low levels for the public listing, hovering just below $136—a hair above the $135 IPO price and well below the $150 opening price on the day it went public last month.

That coverage also notes shares were down almost 9% over five days and nearly 40% below an all-time high of $225. The drawdown has been a brutal wake-up call for some retail traders who treated the listing like a high-octane momentum play.

One Reddit user who leveraged a Roth IRA with major call options on SpaceX reportedly wiped out several hundred thousand dollars from retirement savings. Some investors have started calling the name a "meme stock," even as Wall Street still debates the fundamental story.

Miller Tabak chief market strategist Matthew Maley told Reuters the slide "raises the narrative that the stock is up on fluff, on speculation, on froth, and not on real fundamentals." Carnegie Investment Counsel's Greg Halter added that anyone who bought in early hoping to "make a killing" will be disappointed.

What does the SpaceX lockup schedule mean for share supply?

CNBC notes the surge in short interest comes ahead of a closely watched lockup schedule that could substantially increase the number of shares available for trading over coming months. SpaceX's initial public float represented only about 5% of its roughly 13 billion shares outstanding, according to KeyBanc Capital Markets as cited by CNBC.

That scarcity helped juice early trading after the blockbuster IPO. The flip side is structural: as lockups expire, millions of additional shares can enter the market, raising the risk of selling pressure just as valuation skeptics grow louder.

Short sellers are effectively betting that a bigger free float and a stock already back near IPO will keep momentum on their side. Long-term bulls still lean on Musk's longer-horizon vision—including AI data centers in space and a city on Mars—as the narrative that could re-rate the equity if confidence returns.

Has Elon Musk lost trillionaire status as SpaceX deflates?

Fortune reports that Elon Musk is no longer a trillionaire as SpaceX stock deflates, tying the wealth swing directly to the company's share-price retreat. Because Musk's fortune is heavily tied to SpaceX, a slide from the post-IPO peak toward the $135 listing price quickly shrinks paper net worth.

Yahoo Finance's investor-loss framing also stresses that buying SpaceX at a multitrillion-dollar valuation—while the company was still losing billions of dollars a quarter—effectively guaranteed major volatility. Analysts have long argued the public thesis is partly a bet on Musk himself.

Reuters has described the listing as a "confidence test." With shares having briefly traded below IPO and short interest near one-third of the float, that test is now playing out in real time for both retail buyers and sophisticated shorts.

None of this guarantees shorts stay profitable. Crowded short books can reverse if lockup absorption or a major catalyst forces covering. Equally, further supply from unlocks or another growth-stock selloff could extend the slide. Position sizing and time horizon matter more than viral headlines when a newly public mega-cap swings this hard.

For wealth builders watching SpaceX as a case study in IPO euphoria versus short-seller discipline, the lesson is less about picking a side and more about respecting float dynamics, valuation risk, and how quickly paper gains—or losses—can reverse after a historic listing.