SpaceX stock closed at $134.72 on Saturday, slipping just below its $135 initial public offering price from June. The decline means early investors who bought at the listing are slightly underwater on their positions.
Despite the near-term weakness, sentiment remains divided. Wall Street analysts see significant upside, with 29 of 35 tracked by TipRanks rating the stock a Buy and setting an average price target of $250.34, suggesting 86% upside from Friday's close. Even the most conservative target of $140 from Piper Sandler sits above current levels.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao addressed the stock on Saturday, stating that SpaceX "will be one of the best stocks to hold for a long time to come." His comments came after some users interpreted his earlier mention of Binance's SpaceX holdings as a potential threat to sell. The exchange holds more than $1 billion in SpaceX stock, a position that began as a $500 million investment related to Elon Musk's 2022 Twitter acquisition.
Options traders are pricing in heightened volatility ahead of a major catalyst. The final batch of locked-up insider shares becomes sellable on December 8. Contracts expiring December 18 suggest traders expect a potential move of about $19, or 14%, implying a range of $117 to $155.
The previous major lockup expiration on August 6, when over 911 million insider shares unlocked, resulted in a 6% gain for SpaceX stock toward $115.
Valuation concerns present a counterpoint to analyst optimism. SpaceX trades at approximately 518 times its annual profit, according to MarketBeat, despite third-quarter revenue jumping 161% to $14.57 billion.
