SpaceX stock closes below debut price at $148 in two-day slide after Nasdaq 100 inclusion

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SpaceX stock closed at $148 on Wednesday, below the company's first trading price of $150 per share for a second day in a row.

Elon Musk's aerospace and defense contractor was included in the Nasdaq 100 index on Tuesday, less than a month after its stock market debut on June 12. The rapid inclusion in the Nasdaq 100 was due, in part, to the exchange's revised rules for new public companies to become part of that widely-tracked benchmark.

The SpaceX inclusion also required index funds and exchange-traded funds that are tied to the benchmark to buy shares of the company in order to match the new lineup.

SpaceX's record initial public offering raised a total of $85.7 billion after underwriters exercised the "greenshoe" overallotment. SpaceX initially offered 555.6 million shares for a set price of $135 each.

The stock soared in the days following its debut, notching a closing high of $201.80 on June 16.

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Mostly bullish analyst ratings followed the inclusion into the Nasdaq 100.

Morgan Stanley initiated coverage, rating shares of SpaceX as "overweight" with a price target of $300. Bernstein initiated coverage at "outperform" with a price target of $239. RBC initiated with an "outperform" rating and price target of $225. UBS initiated with a "buy" rating and 12-month price target of $210 per share.

Bulls pointed to the company's lead in reusable rocket technology and launch services, its vast Starlink satellite internet service, and the potential to improve the margins for both of these businesses.

For growth, analysts pointed to SpaceX's potential to develop artificial intelligence products and services ranging from agentic coding tools to rival Anthropic's Claude or OpenAI's Codex and the development of orbital data centers.

In the more skeptical minority, MoffettNathanson initiated coverage of SpaceX with a neutral rating, and CFRA recommended selling shares.

—CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.

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SpaceX stock chart.