Shares of SpaceX slipped below their $150 debut price in early trading on Tuesday, touching $149 before recovering to around $156, as a three-session rout erased more than $600 billion in market value. The stock had peaked at $225.64 on 16 June, giving the company a market capitalisation of nearly $2.9 trillion, but by Tuesday it had fallen to just under $2 trillion, a decline of roughly $900 billion from the high.

The retreat was driven by profit-taking after an initial buying frenzy that saw the stock surge more than 50% in its first four sessions. Only 4.2% of outstanding shares were freely traded at the listing, amplifying price swings. Investor unease deepened after SpaceX announced plans to raise at least $20 billion through its first investment-grade bond sale and disclosed a multi-billion-dollar computing deal with AI startup Reflection AI, signalling an aggressive expansion into artificial intelligence that some shareholders viewed as capital-intensive and risky.

The selloff coincided with a wider pullback in technology stocks. Micron shares fell 9.2% ahead of its earnings report, dragging down the Nasdaq, while Nvidia and Tesla also declined. Analysts in New York described the move as a 'gut check moment' for AI-related names, with the memory-chip sector seen as a barometer of AI demand. European market participants noted that the volatility was typical for a large IPO with a constrained float, cautioning against reading the drop as a buying opportunity.

The paper loss trimmed Elon Musk's net worth by roughly $42 billion, though he remains the world's wealthiest person. SpaceX slipped from fourth to seventh place among global companies by market value. The listing had drawn extraordinary retail interest, with individual investors purchasing a net $405 million in shares during the first five days, according to Vanda Research. Yet governance concerns surfaced: MSCI assigned SpaceX its lowest ESG rating, citing significant environmental and social risks, and legal experts questioned Musk's concentrated voting power, which effectively blocks shareholder influence.

The stock stabilised on Tuesday, ending a three-day losing streak, but attention now shifts to the bond offering's terms and to Micron's earnings on Wednesday, which will test the broader AI investment thesis. The performance of SpaceX is also being watched as a benchmark for anticipated public listings by AI rivals Anthropic and OpenAI, both expected to seek valuations approaching $1 trillion later this year.