Key Highlights

  • The company's shares, which trade under the ticker SPCX, edged lower on Monday, September 28.
  • The 10-year Treasury Yield hit its highest level since 2007 and the 30-year its highest since 2004.
  • Elsewhere in industrials, Modine Manufacturing plunged after Margin comments during a Sell-Side webcast, dragging other AI-infrastructure names lower.
  • The Federal Reserve raised rates in September, and futures price a majority chance of another hike in October.

SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX)'s giant Starship rocket reached orbit for the first time, yet the company's shares slipped slightly on Monday, September 28, as a broad selloff and multi-year-high bond yields outweighed a landmark engineering moment.

A milestone and a shrug

Yet the company's shares, which trade under the ticker SPCX, edged lower on Monday, September 28.

Starship is the enormous, fully reusable rocket system SpaceX has been developing for years, designed to carry heavy payloads and eventually people into space. Reaching orbit is a major technical step on that path. The market's muted reaction may seem surprising, but it reflects how stock prices work.

Why good news can meet a flat reaction

Share prices move on new information relative to expectations. When investors widely anticipate a milestone, much of the good news may already be reflected in the price before it happens. When the event arrives, there can be little left to buy on, and some traders take profits instead. That pattern is often called "selling the news."

The more likely weight was the day's broad selloff, which pulled down all kinds of Growth Stocks regardless of their individual headlines.

The market that SpaceX was trading in

Monday was a tough session for anything valued on long-term growth. The S&P 500 fell 59.72 points to 7,683.69, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 248.34 points to 26,820.38, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 347.11 points to 51,481.51. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the Nasdaq 2,218 to 1,185.

The main pressure came from bonds. The 10-year Treasury yield hit its highest level since 2007 and the 30-year its highest since 2004. Higher yields reduce the value investors place on profits expected far in the future, which matters a great deal for ambitious companies whose biggest payoffs may be years away. The Federal Reserve raised rates in September, and futures price a majority chance of another hike in October.

Aerospace had a rough day

The wider aerospace backdrop was also weak. Boeing (NYSE:BA) was the worst stock in the Dow, sliding to its lowest level of 2026 after the FAA said it would not certify the 737 MAX 10 until it assesses a newly flagged software issue. GE Aerospace, which supplied that software, also fell. Oil rose after President Trump rejected Iran's plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, adding to worries about costs across transport and industry.

Elsewhere in industrials, Modine Manufacturing (NYSE:MOD) plunged after margin comments during a sell-side webcast, dragging other AI-infrastructure names lower. Industrials as a group fell harder than the S&P 500 itself.

Against that backdrop, a slight dip for SpaceX looks less like a verdict on Starship and more like the tide of a risk-off day. The shares held up far better than many high-growth names that slid sharply.

Questions for SpaceX after reaching orbit

For SpaceX, the next questions are about what comes after orbit: how quickly Starship can fly again and what it means for the company's launch business. Official updates from SpaceX will matter more than market chatter.

For the market, the calendar is heavy. JOLTS and consumer confidence arrive Tuesday, August PCE Inflation and Micron (NASDAQ:MU)'s Earnings Wednesday, the ISM manufacturing survey Thursday and the September jobs report Friday. If yields ease, growth stocks, including SpaceX, could find firmer footing.