① Cathie Wood stated that SpaceX has the potential to become the most important company in global history, and Ark Invest purchased 121,384 shares of SpaceX through multiple ETFs on the same day, amounting to an investment of approximately USD 14 million; ② SpaceX’s share price has declined by roughly 49% from its peak to USD 115.26, about 15% below its IPO price of USD 135.
Caixin, July 23 (Editor Huang Junzhi) Despite $SpaceX (SPCX.US)$ its share price having fallen significantly below its IPO price, Cathie Wood, the star Wall Street fund manager and head of Ark Invest, remains bullish, asserting that the aerospace and satellite network pioneer could become “the most important company in global history.”
Meanwhile, Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management LLC acquired SpaceX shares on Wednesday through several ETFs, including the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ), ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW), and ARK Space Exploration & Innovation ETF (ARKX).
The transaction reportedly involved the purchase of a total of 121,384 shares, amounting to an investment of approximately USD 14 million based on SpaceX’s closing price of USD 115.26 that day.
SpaceX’s stock surged during its first three trading days following its listing but subsequently experienced a sharp correction. Its current share price of USD 115.26 represents a decline of approximately 49% from its peak and is about 15% below its IPO price of USD 135.
On Wednesday, “Cathie Wood” explained in a recent interview, “The stock price has indeed fallen from its peak. However, we believe this company still has the potential to become the most important company in history—I mean the most important company in global history.”
She pointed out that Starlink, space launch services, and orbital data centers represent enormous opportunities. Starlink, as a global communications network, holds approximately 70% of the market share among satellites in orbit. Orbital data centers can reduce computing costs and support the development of advanced AI models, and SpaceX has already begun leasing its data center computing capacity to companies such as Anthropic and Google.
In an interview in May, she also remarked that she expected SpaceX’s post-listing performance to be “volatile,” but praised founder Elon Musk for his “incredible” ability to vertically integrate all of his companies, including Tesla, xAI, and Neuralink.
Meanwhile, short sellers have increased their short positions against the company to nearly one-third of its publicly tradable shares.
According to financial analytics firm S3 Partners, approximately 206 million shares of SpaceX are currently sold short, representing about 32% of the company’s publicly tradable float, with a notional short position valued at roughly $25 billion. This figure has risen from approximately 185 million shares (29% of the float) last week and marks a significant increase from the estimated 40 million shares (around 5% to 7% of the float) about a month ago.
In response, Musk posted, "The survival probability for institutions that maintain a significant long-term short position against SpaceX is extremely low. I’ve said it before: if we achieve our goals, SpaceX’s value will surpass that of the entire Earth—this is beyond doubt."
A study by First Trust covering the past 25 years shows that most U.S. IPO stocks have underperformed over the long term, with 59% of companies delivering negative returns within two years of listing and a median return decline of 10.5%.
For SpaceX, this research highlights the challenge of translating strong market enthusiasm into sustained financial performance. Although the company benefits from growth drivers such as Starlink and launch services, investors will continue to scrutinize whether it can justify its premium valuation through consistent execution.
Editor/rice