News & Updates
The latest news and updates from companies in the WLTH portfolio.
SpaceX (SPCX) Faces A New Risk After Iran Named Starlink A Military Target
Never miss an important update on your stock portfolio and cut through the noise. Over 7 million investors trust Simply Wall St to stay informed where it matters for FREE. * Iran has declared Space Exploration Technologies' Starlink infrastructure and its Middle East ground station as military targets. * This move introduces defense-contractor-level risk to SpaceX, extending beyond its traditional commercial space and connectivity profile. * The designation raises questions about insurance coverage, security requirements, and operational continuity for Starlink assets in the region. Space Exploration Technologies, traded as NasdaqGS:SPCX, now sits at the center of a new geopolitical flashpoint that goes beyond launch cadence or satellite deployment metrics. With the stock at $131.11 and shares down 13.8% over the past week and 35.0% over the past month, investors are already contending with sharp short term volatility. The recent returns may prompt readers to reassess how exposure to SPCX fits alongside more traditional aerospace, defense, and communications holdings. This development effectively shifts part of SpaceX's profile toward the type of risk typically associated with critical defense infrastructure. Readers may want to think about whether to classify SPCX closer to a pure commercial growth story or as a hybrid exposure that carries geopolitical and security sensitivities. Future analysis will likely focus less on launch headlines alone and more on how this new risk category filters into insurance costs, capital allocation, and long term resilience of the business model. Stay updated on the most important news stories for Space Exploration Technologies by adding it to your watchlist or portfolio. Alternatively, explore our Community to discover new perspectives on Space Exploration Technologies. Is Space Exploration Technologies's balance sheet strong enough for future acquisitions? Dive into our detailed financial health analysis. Quick Assessment * ✅ Price vs Analyst Target: At US$131.11 versus an average analyst target of US$240.29, Space Exploration Technologies trades about 45% below consensus. * ❌ Recent Momentum: The stock has fallen 35.0% over the past 30 days, suggesting sentiment has turned sharply cautious. There's only one way to know the right time to buy, sell or hold Space Exploration Technologies. Head to Simply Wall St's company report for the latest analysis of Space Exploration Technologies's Fair Value.
Satya Nadella criticized Anthropic Fable AI request restrictions
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told company engineers Wednesday that Anthropic's Fable AI model places unreasonable limits on what users can ask it, according to CNBC. "If you use Fable, when it refuses for any random thing, it just is like, when was the last time you had a creation tool that was so editorially controlled?" Nadella told engineers working on Microsoft's Copilot AI software, according to CNBC, which obtained a copy of his remarks. "It doesn't make sense." The comments were directed at engineers building Copilot and came as Anthropic has acknowledged its own restrictions are catching more benign requests than intended. When Anthropic restored Fable access on July 1 -- after cutting it off to comply with a U.S. government export control directive -- the company said the updated safeguards would flag a somewhat higher share of harmless requests than the previous version had. A support page indicates that queries touching on certain elements of large-scale model development, and other subjects, may be handled by an earlier version of Fable rather than the current one. The criticism is notable given how closely the two companies are tied. The November deal saw Microsoft commit $5 billion to Anthropic while Anthropic pledged to direct $30 billion toward Microsoft's Azure cloud platform. Microsoft also launched Copilot Cowork this year, a workplace productivity offering built around Anthropic's technology. Microsoft declined to comment on Nadella's remarks, and Anthropic did not respond to a request for comment. Nadella also used the meeting to argue that companies should not have to rely on a handful of AI providers. "It can't be that there are only two companies in the world with token capital, and everybody else is renting it," he told the engineers. "It makes no economic sense." Anthropic has faced mounting scrutiny from multiple directions. The company has been designated a supply-chain risk by the Pentagon after it refused to allow its models to be used for autonomous weapons or domestic surveillance -- a label Anthropic has called legally unsound and challenged in court. Despite the dispute, Anthropic has reported its annualized revenue climbing from roughly $9 billion at the end of 2025 to more than $30 billion. Microsoft shares are down 17% on the year, a stark contrast to the Nasdaq Composite's 11% advance over the same period.
In 50 years, they'll be 'laughing': Investor Jeremy Grantham says SpaceX is the 'craziest IPO in the history of man.'
Moneywise and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below. For Jeremy Grantham, SpaceX's IPO will go down in history for all the wrong reasons. He claims it's "the craziest IPO in the history of man (1)." In a recent interview with Morningstar, the founder of Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Company (GMO), blasted the valuation for Elon Musk's rocket company. Must Read * Jeff Bezos backs a platform that lets anyone invest in rental homes for as little as $100 -- 6 ways to build wealth like a landlord without actually being one * JPMorgan still sees gold hitting $5,000/oz by Q4 -- and savvy investors are protecting their wealth with a tax-advantaged Gold IRA. Learn more with a free guide from Priority Gold * The tax breaks in Trump's 'big beautiful bill' expire after 2028 -- and experts say most people won't act in time. What to do before the window closes Grantham is known as a "permabear" because of his perennially gloomy outlook on the market and stayed consistent with his recent analysis: "In 50 years, they'll be telling and writing stories about SpaceX and they'll be quoting you paragraphs from the prospectus and you will be laughing at it," he said (1). The prospectus Grantham is referring to is SpaceX's S-1 filing, which featured multiple page-long rocket ship pictures and lofty business ambitions such as space tourism and asteroid mining (2). But it isn't so much these sci-fi-sounding revenue sources that have Jeremy Grantham giggling. Grantham focused much of his criticism on SpaceX's artificial intelligence division, including xAI and X (formerly Twitter), which he considers "third-rate" compared to behemoths like Anthropic and OpenAI. Interestingly, a massive collapse in SpaceX's stock isn't the scariest scenario in Grantham's mind. He admitted that he's quite fearful of a future in which he's proven wrong and AI becomes so powerful that it creates a high-tech dystopia. Grantham told Morningstar, "If AI is actually going to be so good that the $1.7 trillion is cheap and the AI will be so powerful that our lives will be clearly at very severe risk, I wouldn't wish it on our species at all." On June 12, SpaceX shares initially rose from the starting price of $135 to about $160 per share (3). Although the stock briefly broke $200 a few days after IPO, it's currently trading around the $150 mark. Nasdaq fast-track brings in fast cash Even though Grantham said he's "90%" certain of a crash for SpaceX shares, he didn't rule out the possibility of price appreciation in the near-term. In Grantham's view, new indexing rules rather than intergalactic revenue sources could propel SpaceX higher.
Starship launch fails to take off as SpaceX stock plunges to new low
SpaceX was forced to abort its latest Starship launch just seconds before lift off on Thursday after some of the engines on the world's biggest rocket failed to start. The scrubbed launch came just hours after SpaceX shares fell below their initial public offering (IPO) price of $135 for the first time, marking a 40 per cent drop in value over the last month. The share price fell a further 6 per cent in pre market trading in the minutes following the Starship launch failure. The IPO on 12 June saw SpaceX founder Elon Musk become the world's first trillionaire, though the latest stock slide has seen his net worth slip to $833 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. SpaceX's valuation is strongly tied to the success of Starship, though it is yet to prove itself to be mission ready. The company is relying on the rocket to fulfill a multi-billion-dollar contract with Nasa to send astronauts to the Moon, as well as to grow its own Starlink internet network, which is SpaceX's largest source of revenue. Thursday's launch attempt from SpaceX's Starbase facility in Texas was the first to carry a payload of next-generation Starlink V3 satellite, which are twice as big as earlier versions and capable of delivering more than 10 times the capacity. "Starship is planned to deploy 20 satellites which will extend solar arrays and antennas and will attempt to connect with the larger Starlink constellation via high-capacity lasers," SpaceX wrote in its mission brief. "The Starlink satellites will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship and are expected to demise upon reentry approximately 20 minutes after deployment." The most recent Starship launch in May saw the 124-metre-tall rocket lift off successfully, before the second stage deployed dummy versions of the Starlink V3 satellites. During the descent of the first stage, multiple engine failures meant the giant rocket crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, leading the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to order an investigation into public safety. The latest engine failure will require some of the engines on Starship's Super Heavy booster to be replaced, according to Mr Musk. "Some of the engines didn't start, triggering an automatic launch abort," the SpaceX CEO wrote on X following the failed launch attempt. "To be confident of a good flight, two Raptors will be removed and replaced." SpaceX said the next Starship launch attempt will take place "as early as next week", though no specific date has been set.
SpaceX IPO earns millions for US Small Business Administration head Kelly Loeffler
WASHINGTON, July 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Small Business Administration head Kelly Loeffler multiplied the value of her investment in Elon Musk's SpaceX after she was nominated for the job, earning millions of dollars from the company's record initial public offering, a Reuters review of her financial disclosures showed. Loeffler invested between $1 million and $5 million as of January 3, 2025, in xAI, Musk's AI and social media firm that has since merged with SpaceX, according to a required financial disclosure submitted before she became SBA's administrator. Later in 2025, Loeffler invested again in SpaceX and xAI between $1 million and $5 million, according to a separate financial disclosure covering her investments for all of 2025 that she signed on May 14, 2026. Reuters obtained the form from the SBA on June 12. Loeffler's second investment has not been previously reported. Two independent government ethics attorneys agreed with Reuters' assessment of Loeffler's disclosure. Cabinet members use ranges to declare the value of their assets on their required financial disclosure forms, and they do not disclose the dates of their investments before taking office. SpaceX is a military contractor for the U.S. government. Federal law prohibits cabinet members from participating in decisions involving a company in which they have a financial interest. Public records do not show a financial relationship between SBA and xAI or SpaceX. xAI was not included on the public list of AI tools used by SBA employees in 2025. Loeffler and her team did not respond to multiple requests for comment about her SpaceX investment. VALUE OF SPACEX INVESTMENT SOARS Loeffler's bet on SpaceX paid off. The company priced the biggest-ever U.S. IPO on June 12, valuing the space, satellite and AI provider at $1.77 trillion. Her first investment in xAI would have been worth between $7 million and $2.6 billion on the day of the IPO, depending on the exact amount she invested and the date she made it, said Franco Granda, analyst at data provider PitchBook. The second investment would have been worth between $2.2 million and $25.4 million that day, he said. The earlier the investment, the more it would have been worth at the IPO, he said. xAI's valuation increased by more than 7,000% between its first investment round and January 5, 2025. SpaceX's valuation more than doubled in 2025. At least 10 Trump administration officials listed investments in SpaceX or xAI on their 2025 financial disclosure forms. None of those officials works for the Defense Department.
Starship launch fails to take off as SpaceX stock plunges to new low
SpaceX was forced to abort its latest Starship launch just seconds before lift off on Thursday after some of the engines on the world's biggest rocket failed to start. The scrubbed launch came just hours after SpaceX shares fell below their initial public offering (IPO) price of $135 for the first time, marking a 40 per cent drop in value over the last month. The share price fell a further 6 per cent in pre market trading in the minutes following the Starship launch failure. The IPO on 12 June saw SpaceX founder Elon Musk become the world's first trillionaire, though the latest stock slide has seen his net worth slip to $833 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. SpaceX's valuation is strongly tied to the success of Starship, though it is yet to prove itself to be mission ready. The company is relying on the rocket to fulfill a multi-billion-dollar contract with Nasa to send astronauts to the Moon, as well as to grow its own Starlink internet network, which is SpaceX's largest source of revenue. Thursday's launch attempt from SpaceX's Starbase facility in Texas was the first to carry a payload of next-generation Starlink V3 satellite, which are twice as big as earlier versions and capable of delivering more than 10 times the capacity. "Starship is planned to deploy 20 satellites which will extend solar arrays and antennas and will attempt to connect with the larger Starlink constellation via high-capacity lasers," SpaceX wrote in its mission brief. "The Starlink satellites will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship and are expected to demise upon reentry approximately 20 minutes after deployment." The most recent Starship launch in May saw the 124-metre-tall rocket lift off successfully, before the second stage deployed dummy versions of the Starlink V3 satellites. During the descent of the first stage, multiple engine failures meant the giant rocket crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, leading the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to order an investigation into public safety. The latest engine failure will require some of the engines on Starship's Super Heavy booster to be replaced, according to Mr Musk. "Some of the engines didn't start, triggering an automatic launch abort," the SpaceX CEO wrote on X following the failed launch attempt. "To be confident of a good flight, two Raptors will be removed and replaced." SpaceX said the next Starship launch attempt will take place "as early as next week", though no specific date has been set.
Starship launch fails to take off as SpaceX stock plunges to new low
SpaceX was forced to abort its latest Starship launch just seconds before lift off on Thursday after some of the engines on the world's biggest rocket failed to start. The scrubbed launch came just hours after SpaceX shares fell below their initial public offering (IPO) price of $135 for the first time, marking a 40 per cent drop in value over the last month. The share price fell a further 6 per cent in pre market trading in the minutes following the Starship launch failure. The IPO on 12 June saw SpaceX founder Elon Musk become the world's first trillionaire, though the latest stock slide has seen his net worth slip to $833 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. SpaceX's valuation is strongly tied to the success of Starship, though it is yet to prove itself to be mission ready. The company is relying on the rocket to fulfill a multi-billion-dollar contract with Nasa to send astronauts to the Moon, as well as to grow its own Starlink internet network, which is SpaceX's largest source of revenue. Thursday's launch attempt from SpaceX's Starbase facility in Texas was the first to carry a payload of next-generation Starlink V3 satellite, which are twice as big as earlier versions and capable of delivering more than 10 times the capacity. "Starship is planned to deploy 20 satellites which will extend solar arrays and antennas and will attempt to connect with the larger Starlink constellation via high-capacity lasers," SpaceX wrote in its mission brief. "The Starlink satellites will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship and are expected to demise upon reentry approximately 20 minutes after deployment." The most recent Starship launch in May saw the 124-metre-tall rocket lift off successfully, before the second stage deployed dummy versions of the Starlink V3 satellites. During the descent of the first stage, multiple engine failures meant the giant rocket crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, leading the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to order an investigation into public safety. The latest engine failure will require some of the engines on Starship's Super Heavy booster to be replaced, according to Mr Musk. "Some of the engines didn't start, triggering an automatic launch abort," the SpaceX CEO wrote on X following the failed launch attempt. "To be confident of a good flight, two Raptors will be removed and replaced." SpaceX said the next Starship launch attempt will take place "as early as next week", though no specific date has been set.
SpaceX IPO earns millions for US Small Business Administration head Kelly Loeffler
WASHINGTON, July 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Small Business Administration head Kelly Loeffler multiplied the value of her investment in Elon Musk's SpaceX after she was nominated for the job, earning millions of dollars from the company's record initial public offering, a Reuters review of her financial disclosures showed. Loeffler invested between $1 million and $5 million as of January 3, 2025, in xAI, Musk's AI and social media firm that has since merged with SpaceX, according to a required financial disclosure submitted before she became SBA's administrator. Later in 2025, Loeffler invested again in SpaceX and xAI between $1 million and $5 million, according to a separate financial disclosure covering her investments for all of 2025 that she signed on May 14, 2026. Reuters obtained the form from the SBA on June 12. Loeffler's second investment has not been previously reported. Two independent government ethics attorneys agreed with Reuters' assessment of Loeffler's disclosure. Cabinet members use ranges to declare the value of their assets on their required financial disclosure forms, and they do not disclose the dates of their investments before taking office. SpaceX is a military contractor for the U.S. government. Federal law prohibits cabinet members from participating in decisions involving a company in which they have a financial interest. Public records do not show a financial relationship between SBA and xAI or SpaceX. xAI was not included on the public list of AI tools used by SBA employees in 2025. Loeffler and her team did not respond to multiple requests for comment about her SpaceX investment. VALUE OF SPACEX INVESTMENT SOARS Loeffler's bet on SpaceX paid off. The company priced the biggest-ever U.S. IPO on June 12, valuing the space, satellite and AI provider at $1.77 trillion. Her first investment in xAI would have been worth between $7 million and $2.6 billion on the day of the IPO, depending on the exact amount she invested and the date she made it, said Franco Granda, analyst at data provider PitchBook. The second investment would have been worth between $2.2 million and $25.4 million that day, he said. The earlier the investment, the more it would have been worth at the IPO, he said. xAI's valuation increased by more than 7,000% between its first investment round and January 5, 2025. SpaceX's valuation more than doubled in 2025. At least 10 Trump administration officials listed investments in SpaceX or xAI on their 2025 financial disclosure forms. None of those officials works for the Defense Department.
Should You Buy SpaceX Stock Below $135 Per Share? Here's What History Says.
After a hot start following its IPO, Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX), better known as SpaceX, has seen its stock price come back down to Earth. The price is now approaching its IPO price of $135 per share. Investors who couldn't get in on the IPO may be wondering whether to buy the stock if it dips below that number. Here's what history has to say. Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue " How well do IPOs hold up over the long run? Most IPO stocks see a pop on their first day of trading. Underwriters intentionally underprice offerings to ensure enough demand to fully allocate the stock offering and guarantee success for the company. Indeed, SpaceX closed its first day of trading about 19% above its IPO price, which is about average based on data dating back to 1960. But most investors aren't interested in SpaceX's short-term outcomes. The company's value is based on its potential to disrupt multiple industries over the long run. The stock should appeal to investors who believe in CEO Elon Musk's ability to build more efficient reusable rockets, expand its satellite constellation, and reshape broadband internet access and artificial intelligence (AI). So, looking at how IPOs usually hold up after at least three years of trading can provide valuable insight. For investors who buy just any new IPO as it comes to market, the long-term results aren't great. Even with a big first-day pop, the average IPO since 1980 (excluding the 1999-2000 dot-com bubble) produced worse returns than the overall market, according to data compiled by professor Jay Ritter. He found that all IPOs produce an average return of 44.2% from their IPO price over three years, but that trails the weighted-average market return by 1.6%. But tech stocks specifically do significantly better. Tech IPOs produced average three-year returns of 73.3%, massively outperforming the market by 25.8%. And if you dig a little bit deeper, big tech stocks with sales exceeding $100 million (adjusted for inflation) perform even better. These companies have delivered an average three-year return of 82.5% and outperformed the market by 43.1%. Even if they're unprofitable, they still produce excess returns of 41.7% on average, according to Ritter's data. In other words, history is on SpaceX's side as a large tech company making its public debut. Still, there are a few reasons to remain cautious about buying SpaceX, even at its IPO price.
TSLA Stock Slips Overnight: Gary Black Says SpaceX Can't Afford Tesla - 'The Math Won't Pass Muster'
* Black warned a Tesla deal could dilute SPCX shareholders by about 25%. * Chamath, Jefferies and JPMorgan still see strategic logic in a Tesla-SpaceX combination. * Tesla reports Q2 earnings on July 22, with EPS of $0.32 expected. Shares of Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) slid 2% overnight heading into Friday as Future Fund Managing Director Gary Black pushed back against growing speculation that SpaceX could acquire the EV giant. TSLA stock slipped 1% on Thursday to $391.06, logging its second consecutive session in the red. See what 10M+ investors are talking about. Get the Stocktwits Daily Rip for what retail is watching right now, free to your inbox Tesla Bull Gary Black Says SpaceX Deal Does Not Add Up Black said that CEO Elon Musk's control of SpaceX prevents its board from ignoring the financial impact of a heavily dilutive deal. "Those who think $SPCX will buy $TSLA don't understand the concept of board fiduciary duty," Black said on X. Musk controls 82% of SpaceX's voting power and owns 42% of its overall equity. However, he said that the control does not remove the board's obligation to act in the interests of SpaceX shareholders. The key problem, he said, is dilution. With SPCX trading at about $132 and continuing to fall, an equity-funded Tesla acquisition would require SpaceX to issue a large amount of new stock: "At $132 and sinking, SPCX can't just buy TSLA in a 25% dilutive equity deal," Black said. "The math won't pass muster." Why The Tesla-SpaceX Merger Debate Is Heating Up Black's warning comes days after early SpaceX investor Chamath Palihapitiya revived the merger debate, saying there is "a very obvious industrial logic" to combining Tesla and SpaceX under one capital structure and balance sheet. Palihapitiya previously said that SpaceX was more likely to reverse-merge into Tesla than pursue a traditional IPO, allowing Musk to place his "two seminal assets into one cap table." He also called SpaceX "the outlier of outliers" and said its direct-to-cell business could become "an enormous business" before several other revenue streams mature. Meanwhile, Jefferies said a merger could make strategic sense, estimating that a nil-premium deal could leave Musk with 55.3% voting control while still allowing a premium for Tesla shareholders. JPMorgan similarly called the idea "strategically coherent on paper," citing links across AI, robotics, energy, transportation and space. TSLA Earnings Ahead: Q2 Preview The merger debate comes ahead of Tesla's second-quarter earnings on July 22, with Wall Street expecting EPS of $0.32 on revenue of $26.02 billion.
AST SpaceMobile vs. Rocket Lab: Which Stock Is The Superior SpaceX Competitor?
Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX) made headlines when it raised $75 billion from investors in an initial public offering (nearly $86 billion if you include the investment bankers' overallotment). The stock rocketed higher after the IPO, but it has now fallen back down to the $135 IPO price. There are alternatives to consider, such as AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) and Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB). Here's why you might want to buy one of these stocks over SpaceX. What does SpaceX do? The simple answer is SpaceX does a lot. For example, it builds and launches rockets. In fact, it appears well ahead of the competition in terms of technology, with rockets that return and land after use. Reusing launch rockets materially reduces launch costs. SpaceX also operates Starlink, a satellite-based telecommunication network. And it is building an artificial intelligence business. Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue " This is where things get interesting. SpaceX is a money-losing start-up, but its Starlink business is profitable. As the company clearly spelled out in its IPO prospectus, space launches and AI are burning through cash. You can avoid the money-losing businesses and just focus on the one segment of SpaceX that is profitable, the satellite-based broadband network, if you buy AST SpaceMobile. AST SpaceMobile: Not up to speed, but getting close AST SpaceMobile isn't profitable yet, either. However, it operates a satellite-based broadband network. And it is working to expand that network to cover the entire planet. It is getting close to a commercial launch of its network, but there's a vital difference between Starlink and AST SpaceMobile: Starlink's service is bespoke, while AST SpaceMobile is partnered with large cellphone service providers. That means it has a built-in customer base and is likely to hit the ground running when its service starts operating. It still has material spending needs as it works to broaden its geographic coverage, but it also has major telecom partners as supporters. If you are worried that Elon Musk is pulling SpaceX in too many directions, AST SpaceMobile would be a way to focus on the one part of that company that actually makes money today. That said, AST SpaceMobile likely won't be profitable for a while longer, given the huge cost of building and launching satellites.
SpaceX Short Sellers Rack Up $3.88 Billion as Stock Falls Below IPO Price
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX), Elon Musk's rocket, satellite, and artificial intelligence company, is facing mounting pressure as its stock trades near the $135 per-share price set in its initial public offering. Short sellers have generated approximately $3.88 billion in paper profits, according to data compiled by S3 Partners, after the shares fell as low as $132.15 and moved toward a fourth consecutive session of losses. The stock has also slipped below its IPO price for the first time, while bearish investors have continued increasing their positions as enthusiasm surrounding the newly public company appears to weaken. S3 Partners data show that roughly 181 million SpaceX shares, representing about 28% of the stock available for trading, have been sold short. Ihor Dusaniwsky of S3 Partners said this represents one of the highest short-interest levels recorded by a newly listed company during its first month of trading. Investors added nearly 37 million shares, valued at approximately $5 billion, to short positions over the past week as the stock continued to decline. SpaceX has now lost about one-third of its value since its June 16 closing high, erasing approximately $860 billion in market capitalization during that period. Investors are now focusing on the company's 13th Starship test flight, which could take place as soon as Thursday, along with SpaceX's first quarterly earnings report, which may be released in the coming weeks. The earnings report is expected to allow certain shareholders to sell their stock for the first time, beginning a period during which millions of additional shares could become available for trading. Dusaniwsky noted that the recent share-price weakness and expectations surrounding upcoming lockup expirations have contributed to increased short selling. These developments could keep SpaceX shares volatile as investors assess the rocket launch, the company's financial results, and the potential increase in tradable stock.
SpaceX Bears Gain as Stock Drops
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) short sellers have made an estimated $3.8 bilion in paper gains after the stock slid below its IPO price during a four-day losing streak. According to S3 Partners, short interest has climbed to 181 million shares, or about 28% of the company's 646 million-share tradable float. Shares have fallen 11% over the past 4 sessions, touching an intraday low of $132.15 before closing just above their $135 IPO price. Led by Elon Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), SpaceX designs and launches rockets, operates the Starlink satellite internet network and develops spacecraft for commercial and government customers. The company is also building Starship, its next-generation launch system aimed at missions to the Moon and Mars. The recent pullback comes as investors wait for 2 major catalysts: SpaceX's 13th Starship test flight and its earnings report, expected in the first week of August.
Microsoft Stock Rises 2.9% as AI Sales Push Targets OpenAI and Anthropic
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), the world's largest software company, is preparing its sales team to compete more aggressively with Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company behind Claude, and OpenAI, another major AI developer. During internal meetings held Tuesday and Wednesday, Microsoft executives said the company should emphasize its lower costs, stronger security controls, and broader product offering. Executive Vice President Jay Parikh said Microsoft's fiscal 2027 sales message should focus on the company providing a complete end-to-end system while competitors offer individual parts. This strategy supports Microsoft's effort to position itself as a platform where businesses can fine-tune, deploy, and monitor artificial intelligence across their operations. The competitive push comes as Microsoft faces pressure from large AI startups and rival cloud platforms, including Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), the technology company that owns Google. Investors have raised concerns that newer AI tools could replace established software products, while Microsoft's rising data-center spending has added further pressure on sentiment. The stock has fallen 20% this year, although shares gained 2.9% to $396.08 by 1:50 p.m. in New York, representing the largest intraday increase in two weeks. Executive Vice President Jacob Andreou also compared Microsoft's Copilot assistant with Anthropic's Claude for use in Microsoft's office products, saying Claude was slower, less accurate, and lacked suitable security integrations. Anthropic declined to comment. Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said customers are expected to focus more heavily over the next year on monitoring AI costs and using cheaper models. Nadella pointed to Unilever, a consumer goods company, which built an automated claims-processing system on Microsoft's platform that is projected to generate about $300 million in savings. The system had previously used one of the most advanced AI models available before switching to a less expensive Microsoft model. Microsoft has also replaced advanced models from OpenAI and Anthropic with its own cheaper alternative in some products, according to Bloomberg. Investors may view the strategy as an attempt to improve AI economics while strengthening Microsoft's position against fast-growing competitors.
SpaceX vs. Rocket Lab: Which Is the Better Space Stock to Buy Right Now?
Space stocks are on many investors' minds these days, but going all-in on this sector right now comes with considerable risk, as most rocket stocks are volatile. Still, two stocks that are no doubt near the top of many investors' watch lists are Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX) and Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB). Here's which one looks like the better buy right now. Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue " The case for SpaceX What was once just a rocket company has morphed into an expanding technology behemoth with its sights set on both the space and artificial intelligence (AI) markets. SpaceX has highly ambitious goals for both, including colonizing Mars, launching orbital data centers, expanding its Starlink satellite internet business, and building what some analysts are calling a "sovereign AI" platform in which the company controls the AI model, chip designs, processor manufacturing, and everything in between. That's part of the appeal of SpaceX for some investors -- the company is trying big things, like developing its Starship rocket, which it says will reduce the costs of putting payloads into orbit by at least 90%, or deploying a constellation of data center satellites. Morningstar research puts the total addressable market for its Starlink connectivity business at $129 billion. And the company is making headway on some of its goals. It has 12 million Starlink internet subscribers and generated $1.9 billion in operating profit from that business in the most recent quarter. SpaceX is also making progress with its neocloud business, which leases data center capacity (Earth-bound, for now) to tech companies including Alphabet and Anthropic. That business has already signed more than $81 billion in contracts. And then there's the potential for SpaceX to merge with Elon Musk's other large company, Tesla. That could expand SpaceX's opportunities into the autonomous vehicle and humanoid robot markets, the latter of which could be worth $3 trillion by 2050, according to a Morgan Stanley forecast. The case for Rocket Lab There's some overlap between Rocket Lab and SpaceX, though Rocket Lab isn't building AI data centers or planning to merge with a humanoid robotics company (as of now). The company is instead mostly focused on launching rockets for its customers and on expanding its satellite communications network through its recently announced purchase of Iridium Communications.
SpaceX stock erases all its gains and slides below IPO price in intraday trading
SpaceX stock dropped below its initial public offering price for the first time on Wednesday, signaling dwindling hype around the Elon Musk company. Shares dipped below their IPO price of $135 on Wednesday morning for the first time since listing, a humbling loss for the stock, which had skyrocketed more than 50% in its first days of trading last month. The shares regained some ground later in the day, closing at $135.27. The initial offering gave the company a market cap of $2.2 trillion, making it one of the world's most valuable public companies. For a short period, the IPO also made owner Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire, though his net worth now is about $800 billion. On July 7, the company was added to the Nasdaq-100 after a rule change allowed companies to join 15 days after their IPOs. SpaceX raised a total of $86 billion after underwriters exercised their right to sell additional shares, on top of the $75 billion initially raised. It was the largest IPO in history. SpaceX, based near Austin, Texas, is the leading launch services company in the world, with its Falcon 9 rocket accounting for the vast majority of satellites launched last year. It is also the leading satellite-based broadband provider with its Starlink service. The extraordinary interest in the IPO was driven by Musk's plans to make the company an AI leader -- including plans to launch orbiting satellite data centers powered by the sun that crunch AI data. The company's headquarters moved from Hawthorne to Texas in 2024, but it retains large operations in the South Bay city and blasts off regularly from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County. Since the IPO, SpaceX has used its newfound wealth to expand in the AI space. It announced last month that it was acquiring the AI coding startup Cursor for $60 billion, with the deal expected to close in the third quarter. The San Francisco company, founded in 2022, enables engineers to instruct software in English to run coding tasks autonomously. Musk also merged his xAI artificial intelligence company into SpaceX earlier this year. The combined entity recently announced it was leasing computing power to rivals Anthropic and Google at two terrestrial data centers it has constructed. Since the IPO, investors have expressed concerns about the company's spending plans and debt load. Even with the volatility of the last month, there's still more uncertainty to come. The stock could fall further as locked-up shares held by current and former employees are released.
SpaceX bears are taking a victory lap as the stock struggles a month after the IPO
* After enjoying a brief post-IPO surge, shares of Elon Musk's rocket and AI company have struggled. * Bearish commentators say the slide reinforces their views that the stock was overvalued from the start. * "I think it could be half over the course of the year," one bearish commentator said. SpaceX stock has struggled after a brief burst of post-IPO enthusiasm, and the bears are taking a moment to reiterate their downbeat views on the stock. A month after a historic IPO, SpaceX stock dropped below the initial offering price of $135 on Wednesday, marking a 40% decline from its peak of around $225. Wall Street analysts rushed to issue bullish price targets when the stock joined the Nasdaq 100 earlier this month, but the bears are feeling emboldened by the plunge that they say bolsters the view that the stock was overvalued from the get-go. "Expect the price to completely crash," former Fidelity Overseas Fund manager and hedge fund founder George Noble told Business Insider. "I think it could be half over the course of the year." Noble said $30 is a fair price target for SpaceX stock, a forecast that implies a drop of 78% from Wednesday's price. He's also previously criticized Tesla, describing Musk's EV company as the biggest bubble in stock market history. Jay Ritter, an economist and market commentator dubbed "Mr. IPO" for his expertise and research on companies and capital markets, told Business Insider that he was considering shorting SpaceX prior to its IPO. While Ritter didn't say whether he is betting against the stock yet, he added that he's not at all surprised by the post-IPO slide. CFRA analyst Keith Snyder labeled the stock with a "sell" rating directly following its IPO and hasn't wavered, even as many of his peers on Wall Street dole out bullish price targets and commentary in their initial coverage. "I am still negative on the valuation at these levels and haven't seen anything that would change the story for me," Snyder told Business Insider last week. The only thing he says would change his mind is actual growth. Ed Elson, a day trader who co-hosts Scott Galloway's Prof G Markets podcast, said in June that he saw the stock as highly overvalued, predicting that it would be cut in half within the coming year. On July 14, Elson shared an updated take on SpaceX, highlighting concerns about the bullish sentiment among Wall Street analysts. Elson laid out why this may be problematic for investors, especially as many bullish analysts are from banks that underwrote the SpaceX IPO. In his view, they still have financial incentive to describe the stock favorably, even after the end of the legal 'quiet period' for underwriters. "Anyone who bought post-IPO is now underwater," he said. "This is in line with the trend: Research shows IPOs recommended by analysts at underwriting banks underperform and, on average, lose value." If you enjoyed this story, be sure to follow Business Insider on Yahoo.
Dear SpaceX Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for July 16
SpaceX Corporation (SPCX) investors have a major date circled on the calendar right now. On July 16, the company is scheduled to launch Starship Flight 13, a mission that could become the stock's biggest catalyst since its blockbuster IPO just over a month ago. The launch isn't just another test. For the first time, Starship will attempt to deploy 20 commercial Starlink V3 satellites, marking an important step toward regular commercial operations. A successful mission could help restore investor confidence after weeks of heavy selling, while another setback may add to the pressure on shares. More News from Barchart SpaceX stock has been extremely volatile since going public. Shares debuted at $150 after pricing at $135 in June, surged above $225 during the first week, and have since retreated 29.5%, sinking to its lowest price today since its IPO Debut. This is happening as investors shift their focus from IPO excitement to the company's steep losses, aggressive spending, and premium valuation. The stock currently trades at roughly 110 times expected trailing 2025 revenue of $18.7 billion, far above the aerospace and defense industry's average of 2.5 times to 3 times sales. Even after losing hundreds of billions of dollars in market value, investors are still paying a premium for the company's long-term growth story rather than its current financial performance. Starship Flight 13 Could Be a Defining Moment The July 16 mission is particularly important because it represents the second test of the new Starship V3 design after the first V3 launch ended with an explosion following splashdown in May. SpaceX says Flight 13 includes software upgrades designed to address issues from the previous mission. Beyond testing the vehicle itself, the company will deploy 20 next-generation Starlink satellites, including six equipped with cameras to monitor the spacecraft's heat shield during reentry. If the mission succeeds, investors may gain confidence that Starship is moving closer to commercial service, unlocking new revenue opportunities across satellite deployment, lunar missions, and eventually Mars exploration. Another failure, however, could reinforce concerns about execution risks at a time when investor sentiment is already fragile.
Anthropic, Blackstone bet the next trillion-dollar AI business is implementation, not models
AI models are becoming ever more capable, but exactly what enterprise adoption will look like remains a big question. In a bid to shape that future, labs like Anthropic and OpenAI have spun up separate businesses dedicated to deploying AI engineers to their customers' offices -- a bet that assisting businesses in figuring out how to use their AI models is the next trillion-dollar category. One of those businesses now has a name: Ode with Anthropic is the $1.5-billion, AI implementation company that the AI lab launched in May as part of a joint venture with Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, Goldman Sachs and others. The move follows OpenAI's own take on this, The Deployment Company, underscoring a growing acknowledgement among frontier AI labs that winning enterprise customers requires far more than shipping better models. Ode was originally conceived by Blackstone, which noticed a gap when it had roped in large consulting firms and small AI services boutiques to implement AI across its portfolio companies. One of those boutiques, AI engineering services startup Fractional AI, apparently stood out, and the joint venture acquired the startup shortly after it was announced. (Fractional ended an 11-month partnership with OpenAI when it was acquired.) Fractional has become the foundation of what is now Ode -- a kind of "scaled boutique" AI services firm. And its leaders have ambitious goals. "It's pretty easy to imagine this as a trillion-dollar company someday if we execute well," Chris Taylor, CEO of Ode and co-founder of Fractional, told TechCrunch in an exclusive interview. "The key challenge of the business is how do you go through that phase of hyper growth without losing the emphasis on quality?" Ode currently employs 100 engineers, and works closely with Anthropic's applied AI team to identify where the tech can have an impact on different businesses, and create systems tailored to each organization's operations. Anthropic's internal team will continue to focus on strategic, mission-aligned deployments, a spokesperson told TechCrunch. The private equity firms backing Ode will funnel their own portfolio companies to the joint venture as potential customers, though Ode will not limit sales of its services to those companies. For Ode, an ideal customer is one whose CEO buys into the promise, according to Taylor. "A lot of the work that we're doing is the top one or two priority for the CEO of the company," Taylor said. "It's the most important product feature that the company is going to build over the course of the next two years, or it's reworking the most important business process they have."
Polymarket Traders May Be Manipulating Crypto Bets, Study Says
(Bloomberg) -- Researchers at Stanford University identified signs that traders may be manipulating one of Polymarket's most popular Bitcoin betting markets by briefly influencing the cryptocurrency's price used to decide the wagers. Most Read from Bloomberg The working paper, co-authored with a researcher at Singapore Management University, examined about two months of five-minute Bitcoin bets on Polymarket. It found repeated bursts of one-sided trading on the Binance exchange that temporarily moved Bitcoin's price in the final seconds before bets closed, benefiting traders positioned in the same direction. The activity was heaviest at times when small, temporary moves in Bitcoin's price could determine whether a bet paid out. The researchers described the pattern as a "transitory push to manipulate the spot price." Prediction markets have traditionally been used to forecast elections and sporting events, where traders cannot easily influence the outcome. The researchers argue bets tied to financial assets are vulnerable to manipulation because participants can trade the very asset that determines whether they win or lose. "These contracts have a structural vulnerability," Singapore Management University assistant professor Shihao Yu, one of the paper's authors, wrote in a LinkedIn post about the research. "They settle on a price that traders can move by trading the underlying asset itself." The findings come as exchanges expand prediction markets tied to financial assets. Cboe has begun rolling out products tied to stock indexes, while Nasdaq has sought approval for similar contracts, potentially extending the questions raised by the paper beyond crypto and Polymarket. "Polymarket uses multiple independent pricing oracles to aggregate data and ensure accuracy," a company spokesperson said. The company is looking to transition certain markets in the next year to settlement methods that use prices over a longer period rather than a single point in time. The change would "further ensure market integrity," the spokesperson said. While the researchers document unusual Bitcoin trading around when Polymarket's short-term Bitcoin bets settled, the paper does not prove that the trading necessarily came from Polymarket users who stood to gain from momentary moves in Bitcoin's price. The research also stops short of proving traders' intent but still presents evidence consistent with manipulation, according to Elton Shehdula, head of research at crypto analytics firm Allium.