Buy the Dip! Retail Investors Rush to Snap Up SpaceX Shares as $100 Billion in Lock-Up Stocks Set to Expire

AI business spending has surged, shaking investor sentiment and causing space exploration company SpaceX (SPCX-US) to close down 13.61% on Wednesday (5th). However, institutional data shows that retail investors continue to flood into SpaceX stock, initiating a strong 'buy-the-dip' strategy.

According to Vanda Research, individual traders net-purchased $22.7 million worth of SpaceX shares within just the first hour of trading. Among the 37 trading days since SpaceX went public, this marks the third-largest hourly net-buying volume by retail investors in history.

This indicates that despite the sell-off triggered by financial results, retail enthusiasm for buying low has not diminished—in fact, they appear to be strategically waiting for opportunities.

SpaceX launched the largest IPO in U.S. history at a price of $135 per share, and since then, there has never been a single trading day where retail investors were net sellers.

The latest earnings report sparked a sharp drop in share price. Investors are concerned about how long Starlink—the only currently profitable segment—can sustain SpaceX’s high-cost AI investments.

SpaceX reported that its capital expenditures exceeded $18 billion in Q2 alone, nearly 40% above market expectations. The vast majority of these funds were allocated to building data centers and other AI-related expenses.

Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell, said: "When peers made similar large-scale investments, markets already expressed dissatisfaction. The scale of SpaceX's AI spending, and the extent to which it surpassed analyst forecasts, is the key reason behind the broad market sell-off. Starlink's growth trajectory is indeed impressive, as it remains SpaceX's sole profit-generating business. But if SpaceX wants its stock price to recover, it must present a more certain path to profitability."

On Thursday, SpaceX faces another market-moving event—the expiration of lock-up periods for insiders. Early shareholders and employees can now begin selling their previously restricted shares.

Exchange data reveals that a total of 911.5 million restricted shares will be unlocked, with a market value exceeding $100 billion. This will more than double SpaceX's freely tradable share float.

Notably, additional share unlocks are scheduled throughout August and September, continuing through December. This represents one of the largest post-IPO lock-up expirations in U.S. stock market history.