Key Highlights

● SpaceX closed at $144.75 on October 22, giving back over half of Wednesday's jump.

● About 193.8 million shares changed hands, nearly twice the average volume.

● Third-quarter revenue more than doubled to $14.6 billion.

● Capital expenditure totaled $19.6 billion in the quarter.

Shares of SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) tumbled on Thursday, October 22, 2026, closing at $144.75 and giving back more than half of the jump they made on Wednesday after the company's quarterly results. The drop made the rocket and satellite company one of the more prominent decliners on the Nasdaq Composite in a session dominated by an AI and chip selloff.

Trading was heavy. About 193.8 million shares changed hands, nearly twice the stock's average volume. The close also left the stock below its IPO price.

A strong quarter, then a reversal

The company's results had initially been well received. SpaceX's third-quarter revenue more than doubled from a year earlier to $14.6 billion. Its "Super Intelligence" division brought in $7.6 billion, while capital expenditure totaled $19.6 billion. The exact timing of the earnings release was not confirmed.

Those figures pointed to rapid growth, but also to very heavy spending. On a day when investors were punishing companies with big AI-related capital budgets, that spending came into sharper focus.

Elon Musk, who runs both SpaceX and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), also addressed speculation about a combination of the two companies. "Both SpaceX and Tesla have formed special committees to discuss this idea," he said on the SpaceX call. He also said, "I think I said everything that should be said yesterday, tap-dancing through a minefield there." No deal has been announced.

The lockup overhang

Another factor in focus is the coming end of a lockup period. A lockup unlock covering about 911.5 million insider shares is approaching, according to market reports.

Lockups prevent insiders and early investors from selling after an IPO for a set period. When they expire, a large number of shares can become eligible for sale at once. Investors often trade cautiously ahead of such dates because the extra supply can weigh on the price, whether or not holders actually sell.

Caught in the AI selloff

The broader market offered no shelter. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 26,008.86, down 694.00 points, its steepest drop since June 5. It ended a seven-session winning streak and lost about $1 trillion in market value, according to market data.

The selling began after Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) disclosed 2026 capital expenditure of $135 billion to $145 billion and negative quarterly free cash flow. Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX)'s supply-constrained outlook hit chip stocks, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index had its biggest one-day drop since June 23. Tesla, which reported on Wednesday, also fell, closing at $374.58.

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA)'s chief executive's comment that "The demand of the capital is much greater than the availability of the capital," sharpened worries about how the AI build-out will be financed.

Not all stocks fell. About two of every three S&P 500 members rose, according to market reports, as money rotated into consumer staples, health care, utilities and homebuilders.

SpaceX Watches Its Lockup and the Tesla Question

Investors will watch for any formal update on the lockup expiry and on discussions between SpaceX and Tesla. Next week brings a heavy run of AI-linked earnings, with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) reporting on October 28 and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) on October 29, which could shape sentiment toward high-spending technology companies. The Federal Reserve announces its decision on Wednesday, October 28.