SpaceX Stock Has Traded for a Month. Investors Are Waiting for the Rocket Ride To Start

SpaceX stock could finish its first month of trading below the price at which it started trading in mid-June. The stock got some good news this week, with a big index addition and some upbeat Wall Street research that suggests optimism for the shares.

SpaceX stock has been out for a month. But while backers of the company see big things ahead, it’s been quiet so far. Friday marks the end of the fourth week of trading for SpaceX ( SPCX ), the Elon Musk-led rocket, connectivity and AI company. The shares, recently down more than 2% at around $148, are holding below the $150 level at which they opened trading a month ago.

Why This Matters to Investors It can be tempting to jump on high-profile IPOs, and investors who got into SpaceX on first-day prices did have opportunities to book a quick, profitable trade. Over time, though, the shares have retraced their steps. July hasn’t been kind to SpaceX investors. The stock, which this week booked its lowest-ever close, finished June just under $171, leaving them down 13% this month while the S&P 500 has managed a slight advance.

Two catalysts experts thought might help the shares reclaim some of the upward momentum they enjoyed post-IPO don’t seem to have delivered. Broadly bullish outlooks from Wall Street analysts —Visible Alpha’s average price target for the stock, above $293, suggests a near-doubling from current levels and a record high— arrived in bulk this week. And the shares were officially added to the Nasdaq 100 index , generally seen as bullish.

Neither development has, in the short term, moved the needle much. The stock has contended with a more c...