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SpaceX short sellers near $8.7 billion gain as SPCX falls below IPO price

SpaceX short sellers near $8.7 billion gain as SPCX falls below IPO price

Shares of newly public SpaceX dropped below the $135 offer price and slid as much as 46.8% from their post-listing high, while rising short interest and leveraged long liquidations highlighted mounting pressure.

Fact Check
The Reuters article 'Short sellers notch $8.7 bln profit as SpaceX shares dip to IPO price' directly confirms the core claim: Ortex Technologies estimates approximately $8.7 billion in paper profit for SpaceX short sellers as shares slipped below the $135 IPO price. Multiple independent outlets (Investing.com, Mezha) corroborate the same figure and attribution. The claim is well-supported by the primary source.
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Summary

SpaceX short sellers were sitting on an estimated $8.7 billion in paper profits as of July 16, according to Ortex Technologies, after SPCX fell below its $135 IPO price. The stock, which debuted on June 12 and later reached a post-listing high of $225.64, traded as low as $132.15 on July 16 and was reported by BlockBeats, citing Hyperinsight, to have briefly dropped below $120 on July 17 before rebounding to around $126.2. The decline also triggered liquidations in leveraged bullish positions: Hyperinsight data cited by BlockBeats said two investor wallets were liquidated, involving 38,896.4 SPCX long positions with a cumulative liquidation value of $4.9723 million and realized losses of $599,700. Investor sentiment weakened after SpaceX disclosed plans for a senior unsecured notes offering and announced a $60 billion acquisition largely structured with stock-based transactions, while short interest rose from roughly 5% to 7% of tradable float near the IPO to an estimated 28%.

Terms & Concepts
  • short sellers: Traders who borrow shares and sell them in anticipation of buying them back later at a lower price.
  • paper profits: Unrealized gains that are not locked in until a position is closed.
  • liquidations: Forced closing of leveraged positions after losses mount.