SpaceX Stock Halved... Short Sellers Score $16 Billion in Paper Profits

Short sellers targeting SpaceX are reportedly sitting on estimated paper profits of 15.5 billion dollars (approximately 22.8 trillion won).

Reuters reported this on the 23rd (local time), citing data compiled by financial data analytics firm Ortex Technologies.

SpaceX's stock price peaked at 225.64 dollars during intraday trading on June 16, the third day after its listing, before turning downward.

The closing price on that day stood at 118.25 dollars, significantly below its IPO price of 135 dollars.

"There are no signs whatsoever that short sellers are trying to lock in profits," said Peter Hillerberg, co-founder of Ortex. "In fact, they are doubling down on their bets."

According to Ortex data, 56 percent of SpaceX's free float (approximately 360 million shares) is currently on loan.

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, warned on social media X on the 17th that "the probability of survival for companies maintaining a significant short position against SpaceX over the long term is very low," but short-selling bets show no signs of abating.

On August 6, the lock-up period for 911.5 million insider-held shares will expire, potentially unleashing up to 116 billion dollars (approximately 171 trillion won) worth of supplies into the market.

Analysts suggest room remains for additional short bets as further lock-ups expire, causing the number of tradable shares to surge from the current roughly 639 million to 5.33 billion by early December.

While SpaceX has become a target for short sellers skeptical of its high valuation, Reuters noted that such bearish bets could be a risky choice given the strong interest from retail and institutional investors, as well as Musk's public history of fighting against short sellers.

Musk has clashed publicly with Tesla short sellers on multiple occasions.

In 2018, his "funding secured" tweet suggesting Tesla would go private inflicted billions of dollars in losses on short sellers. After a surge in Tesla's stock price in 2020 caused massive losses for hedge funds, he even sold short shorts featuring mocking phrases as a play on words with the financial term.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.