Key Points
- Up to 1.3 billion shares of SpaceX become tradable
- Quarterly revenue grew by 161% to $14.58 billion.
- New selling qualifications follow the $4.4 billion profit of SpaceX.
SpaceX ( NASDAQ : SPCX ) is facing the largest share unlocking since its listing. Up to 1.3 billion shares, valued at approximately $200 billion, will be eligible for trading on Thursday (October 22nd), just two days after the company announced record quarterly revenue.
This unlocking involves shares held by eligible employees and early investors, which were previously restricted from sale due to the company's IPO agreement. A strong performance in the previous round drove up the price of SpaceX shares, which rose by about 7.8% on Wednesday.
SpaceX unlocks 1.3 billion shares after third-quarter performance
SpaceX completed IPO in June and established a phased lock-up period, allowing existing shareholders to sell some of their shares on predetermined dates as well as after the release of financial results.
On October 22nd, this unlocking event accounted for approximately 28% of the main restricted share pool, making it the largest planned unlocking in the company's history.
Different from previous batches, this batch contains a maximum of 1.3 billion shares, which is significantly higher than the approximately 911 million shares that were allowed to be traded after the release of the second-quarter results in August.
Since the stock price decline after IPO, the restriction on sales has been a concern for investors. At that time, selling pressure and uncertainty in valuation dragged down SPCX.
It is worth noting that Elon Musk's own shares are still subject to another restriction, which will continue until June 2027.
An additional 328 million shares are scheduled to become tradable on October 26, which may further increase the available supply.
SpaceX reported a 161% increase in revenue, and AI's business exceeded Starlink.
According to the performance results submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by SEC in accordance with SpaceX, the company's revenue in the third quarter reached $14.58 billion, which is higher than the $5.58 billion from a year ago.
Net profit soared to $4.4 billion, reversing a loss of $1.1 billion during the same period in 2025.
The strongest growth was seen in the Super Intelligence department of SpaceX. This department's revenue in the third quarter was 7.56 billion US dollars, compared to 813 million US dollars a year ago.
This expansion occurred after SpaceX acquired Cursor for $60 billion, a transaction that was completed in August and expanded the company's AI software business.
At the same time, its Connectivity department's revenue amounted to 5.25 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 69%.
This continues the momentum described by Coinpaper in the business analysis of Starlink, where that department generated $4.29 billion in revenue during the second quarter.
However, with capital expenditures reaching $19.59 billion, it indicates that despite the company having achieved profitability, SpaceX continues to make substantial investments.
Will the unlocking of $200 billion put pressure on the stock price of SPCX?
The rise following the earnings report on Wednesday indicates strong demand for SpaceX shares in the market, but the unlocking on Thursday posed a different kind of market challenge.
Existing holders may choose to take profits after a performance-driven rise. However, unlocking shares does not automatically equate to placing a sell order, and the impact of previous rounds of unlocking on the market has also been inconsistent.
Previous performance reports regarding SPCX have shown that even though the company has not yet made a profit, investors have responded positively to the growth in revenue.
The latest results also support more optimistic predictions from Wall Street, although the target prices set by analysts still carry a speculative nature.
At the same time, discussions regarding a potential merger between Tesla and SpaceX have introduced additional uncertainties, involving valuation and future ownership arrangements.
