SpaceX's stock price on Tuesday dropped below its launch price, erasing its gains since its red-hot debut less than two weeks ago.
Shares briefly dropped to $147.11 at market open before recovering slightly to about $153.
At its initial public offering on the Nasdaq – the biggest in history – on June 12, SpaceX's shares opened at $150. In the days that followed, they soared to $225.64. That means shares are down about 30 per cent since that high.
SpaceX's IPO made Elon Musk the world's first dollar trillionaire. The company also includes AI giant xAI and X, formerly Twitter.
Despite the drop in SpaceX stock, Mr Musk's net worth on paper remains about $1 trillion.
It is difficult to attribute the SpaceX sell-off to one particular factor. Some analysts have pointed out that credit rating agencies have given it a less-than-stellar outlook amid concern about some financial disclosures and potential market exposures.
Other analysts expressed concern after Mr Musk's company announced on Monday that it would be “issuing bonds to raise funds to refinance a short-term loan”, an unexpected move that signalled concern about the company's overall health.
There is also an increasing likelihood that the Democratic Party will win control of the US House of Representatives and possibly the Senate in the November midterm elections, which would put more regulatory pressure and scrutiny on SpaceX.
Mr Musk is an outspoken supporter of the far right and conservative politicians and causes. He pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into US President Donald Trump's re-election campaign.
The mercurial tycoon's attempt to trim federal spending, with the approval of Mr Trump, cut thousands of jobs in the US federal government and gutted foreign aid programmes, moves that continue to generate controversy.
Some have also been concerned about the long-term outlook for his car company, Tesla. Its sales have suffered, partly as a result of Mr Musk's political views.
