SpaceX Rebounds From Near-50% Rout As Starship Launch Catalyst Nears

SpaceX has slipped below its heavily hyped $135 IPO price and has been nearly halved from its all-time high, which was reached during the June 15 gamma squeeze that briefly sent shares above $220 in overnight trading.

Last Thursday's scrub of Starship's 13th test flight added further downward pressure, with shares touching $119 on Monday. The stock rebounded on Tuesday ahead of Thursday's next launch attempt, positioning Flight 13 as a near-term catalyst.

Now targeting to launch Starship’s thirteenth flight test as early as Thursday, July 23 → https://t.co/Rp7VwBzpWx pic.twitter.com/Y0YNzfc5zk

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 19, 2026

The last-second abort was triggered after four of the Super Heavy booster's 33 Raptor engines failed to ignite, prompting an automatic shutdown. "To be confident of a good flight, two Raptors will be removed and replaced," Elon Musk wrote on X.

Flight 13 will be the first Starship launch conducted with SpaceX trading as a public company, giving investors direct exposure to the mission's outcome. A successful flight could help restore confidence in the company's stock and bonds, while another failure would likely deepen the latest sell-off.

Credit markets are already flashing caution. SpaceX issued $25 billion of bonds across five maturities, including $3.5 billion of 6.65% notes due in 2056, which have moved steadily lower since entering secondary trading.

Quite a divergence today...

The question now is whether a successful Starship launch Thursday can put a floor under SpaceX shares, which have underperformed most other major Nasdaq IPOs during the opening days and weeks of trading.

Wall Street, however, remains broadly bullish on the stock, except for Morningstar's Nicolas Owens with the only "Sell" rating.