SpaceX unlocks $100B in shares, stock remains stable as lockup expiration defies gravity

SpaceX just flooded the market with roughly 911.5 million newly tradable shares worth approximately $100 billion. The stock didn’t blink. The August 6 lockup expiration, the first major one since SpaceX’s blockbuster June 2026 IPO, more than doubled the company’s public float. Before the unlock, fewer than 280 million shares were available for trading. Now that number has swelled past 1.1 billion. Why the stock held steady The short answer: earnings momentum and smart lockup engineering. SpaceX posted a strong Q2 earnings report ahead of the unlock date, giving shareholders a reason to hold rather than dump. Rather than releasing all restricted shares in a single cliff event, SpaceX opted for a staggered schedule. The August tranche was the first wave. Additional shares will become tradable through the rest of 2026, with up to 40% of total shares potentially unlocked by December. Some of the largest insider positions, including those held by CEO Elon Musk, remain locked up for a longer period. The IPO that broke records The June 2026 IPO was one of the largest ever recorded, drawing more than $70 billion in retail orders alone. Pre-IPO tender offerings had already pushed the compan...