SpaceX IPO Triggers 50% Crash in Space Stocks

What happened to space stocks in June 2026?

SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) priced its IPO at $135 per share on June 12, 2026, and finished its first trading day up 19%. That same session, nearly every other publicly traded space company sold off hard, with several names posting double-digit single-day losses, according to Benzinga's June 25 sector roundup.

The Procure Space ETF (NASDAQ: UFO) — a broad basket of space-sector equities — fell roughly 26% over the past month, capturing what Benzinga called a "blow-off then hangover" pattern across the sector.

How far did each space stock fall?

Here is the June 2026 drawdown for the major names, based on month-to-date data as of June 25, 2026:

Virgin Galactic had surged 313% from its year-to-date low before the selloff. Rocket Lab was up 485% from its lowest point last year. Intuitive Machines had gained 470% in the same period, per Invezz via TradingView.

Why did SpaceX's IPO hurt other space stocks?

Investors freed up capital to buy into SpaceX and rotated out of smaller peers. Planet Labs fell about 9% on the IPO day alone as that rotation played out in real time.

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SpaceX raised $75 billion at a $1.75 trillion valuation — what Invezz described as the biggest initial public offering on record. The company had previously cut its target valuation from $2 trillion to $1.75 trillion, which some analysts read as a sign of softer roadshow demand. Analysts at Morningstar predicted the real valuation is about 50% below the expected level.

Here's what we know so far: the SpaceX IPO acted as a magnet for speculative capital that had been parked in smaller space names during their long bull run.

What valuation problems are space stocks facing?

High multiples made the sector vulnerable once sentiment shifted. According to Benzinga, AST SpaceMobile screens above 130 times forward sales. Rocket Lab trades around 60 times forward sales. Planet Labs and Satellogic command 20 to 22 times forward sales.

Invezz reported Rocket Lab's forward price-to-sales ratio at 72.90, and Intuitive Machines at 13 times. At its peak, Rocket Lab carried a market cap of nearly $90 billion. Intuitive Machines' market cap jumped to over $10 billion. Neither company is currently profitable.

These are the kinds of multiples that compress fast when investors shift to risk-off mode — especially as the broader SpaceX mobile service story draws attention to the gap between SpaceX's scale and its smaller rivals.

What macro factors are adding pressure?

Space stocks are highly sensitive to rising Treasury yields and hawkish Federal Reserve rhetoric. Both conditions compress valuation multiples on long-duration, cash-flow-negative businesses.

Benzinga also noted that as tech leadership narrows around AI infrastructure — semiconductors, data centers — more speculative sectors like commercial space become a source of funds on risk-off days, not a destination. The US AI jobs push pulling capital toward infrastructure plays is part of the same broader rotation.

Is the space stock bull run over?

Invezz said the hype surrounding the SpaceX IPO is still present, and analysts are not calling a permanent end to the bull run. However, they are recommending caution. The average analyst price target for Rocket Lab (RKLB) stands at $97 — about 16% below where the stock was trading when Invezz published its report.

Satellogic (SATL) is still up over 100% on the year despite its 56% June decline, showing that prior gains were substantial enough to survive a sharp pullback.

The Procure Space ETF had gained more than 30% year-to-date by early April before reversing. Many of the same names were up several hundred percent from their 2024 lows before June's correction hit.

Builders tracking the intersection of agentic AI work and space infrastructure will want to watch whether SpaceX's post-IPO trajectory holds — the company's debut performance is the clearest data point the sector has right now.