Key Highlights

● SpaceX closed at $144.75 on October 22, below its IPO price.

● About 911.5 million insider shares are set to be released from lockup.

● Third-quarter revenue more than doubled to $14.6 billion.

● Trading volume was nearly twice the stock's average.

Shares of SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) fell heavily on Thursday, October 22, 2026, closing at $144.75 on the Nasdaq Composite. The decline erased more than half of the gain the stock made on Wednesday after the company's quarterly results, and left it below its IPO price.

One issue hanging over the stock is a looming lockup expiry. About 911.5 million insider shares are set to be released from lockup restrictions, according to market reports.

Trading volume was heavy, with about 193.8 million shares changing hands, nearly twice the stock's average.

What a lockup is

When a company goes public, insiders such as founders, employees and early investors usually agree not to sell their shares for a set period after the listing. This lockup is designed to prevent a flood of selling in the early days of trading, when the number of shares available to the public is relatively small.

When the lockup ends, those holders become free to sell. Many choose not to, but the sheer number of shares that could hit the market tends to make investors cautious. Traders sometimes sell ahead of the date, or hold off on buying, which can weigh on the price in the run-up.

For a company as large as SpaceX, the numbers involved are substantial.

A strong quarter in the rear-view mirror

The lockup worries came just after a report that had initially lifted the stock. SpaceX's third-quarter revenue more than doubled from a year earlier to $14.6 billion. Its "Super Intelligence" division generated $7.6 billion, and capital expenditure reached $19.6 billion. The exact timing of the earnings release was not confirmed.

Elon Musk, who leads SpaceX and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), said on the SpaceX call that "Both SpaceX and Tesla have formed special committees to discuss this idea," referring to a possible combination of the two companies. No deal has been announced.

Heavy spending fell out of favor

Thursday's market made big spenders a target. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) said after Wednesday's close that it expects 2026 capital expenditure of $135 billion to $145 billion, and it reported negative free cash flow for the quarter. Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX)'s outlook flagged supply constraints. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index posted its biggest one-day drop since June 23.

The Nasdaq Composite closed at 26,008.86, down 694.00 points, its steepest drop since June 5. It ended a seven-session winning streak and lost about $1 trillion in market value, according to market data.

SpaceX's $19.6 billion in quarterly capital spending, and its sizable AI-linked division, put it squarely in the group of companies investors were reassessing.

Elsewhere, the market was healthier. About two of every three S&P 500 stocks rose, according to market reports, and consumer staples and health care hit records.

SpaceX Investors Watch the Lockup Date

The key date for investors is the lockup expiry itself, and how much of the released stock actually changes hands. Any update from the special committees at SpaceX and Tesla will also draw attention. More broadly, earnings from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) on October 28 and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) on October 29 will test the market's appetite for heavy AI spending, alongside the Federal Reserve's decision on October 28.