SpaceX (SPCX.US) fell below its issue price after being listed for a month! The AI financing feast suffers a setback, and the US IPO market is feared to cool down.

SpaceX stock (SPCX.US) has fallen from its post-IPO high and dropped below its IPO price within just one month, dampening the market for new public companies and impacting an important indicator of this year's new stock market performance. Compiled data shows that as of July 15th, the weighted average return rate for IPO companies in the US this year has dropped to 6%, lagging behind the 11% increase of the S&P 500 index. This is mainly due to a general pullback in stocks related to themes such as artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, aerospace, and defense, which are among the hottest tracks for newly listed companies this year. Including the recent drop in stock prices, wider market fluctuations are expected to weaken the enthusiasm for what one executive at Blackstone Inc. has called the "year of IPOs." Data shows that most of the US companies that have gone public in the past two months are currently trading below their IPO prices. SpaceX's stock price fell over 3% on Thursday, marking the 8th drop in the past 9 trading days. By the closing bell, the stock had evaporated $90.3 billion in market value compared to its high point last month. Meanwhile, SK Hynix's stock fell over 13% on Thursday. The company had just completed a record-breaking $26 billion US IPO last week, and its stock price is currently slightly higher than its offering price of $149 per American Depositary Receipt (ADR) sold to investors. Royal Bank of Canada's co-head of US equity capital markets, Michael Ventola, said that recent IPO market activity "will be lower than previously expected," and "you will still see some trades launch and price, but apart from those headline-level large projects, the market will be quieter." Even without considering super-sized IPO projects like SpaceX and SK Hynix, the overall performance of the US IPO market has not shown explosive growth. Data shows that as of the close on July 15th, the weighted average return rate of US IPO companies for 2026 has fallen to about 10%, slightly lower than the performance of the S&P 500 index during the same period. Over the past month, while the S&P 500 index has remained relatively unchanged, there has been a significant increase in internal market volatility, prompting investors to start moving away from previously popular investment themes. During this period, the benchmark index has risen by about 0.3%, but the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index has fallen by 11%, and a basket of momentum stocks has also fallen by over 8%. Eddie Molloy, co-head of global equity capital markets at Morgan Stanley, said, "The AI theme had built up a lot of market momentum, driving strong early performance for related IPO companies. But with the current market environment changing, that momentum will weaken, which is to be expected." Investors may soon see some new public companies moving away from AI themes. Two companies, sandwich chain Jersey Mike's Subs, supported by Blackstone Inc., and gas station and convenience store operator Cumberland Farms, may launch their IPOs as early as next Monday. These two companies will be the first consumer companies to land on the capital market on a large scale since Suja Life's listing in May. However, the performance of a few well-known consumer companies' IPOs this year has not been ideal, with Suja Life falling by 48% and Yesway rising by 3.3%, both lagging behind market expectations. Nevertheless, it is still too early to judge that the IPO market will lose momentum in the second half of the year. Previously reported large IPO transactions driven by Anthropic may start as early as October, which could be a new catalyst for the market. Major Wall Street investment banks announced in recent days that equity issuance consulting income for the second quarter of this year reached the highest level since 2021, mainly benefiting from SpaceX's record IPO and a wave of large-scale financing in the AI infrastructure sector. Data shows that as of July 16th, excluding Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPAC) and other financial instruments, US companies have raised $157 billion through equity financing such as IPOs this year. Bankers are still optimistic that after the Labor Day holiday in September, IPO trading activities will continue to recover. Arnott Branchard, co-head of global equity capital markets at Morgan Stanley, said, "The market overall is volatile, and this will indeed affect the IPO market, the answer is yes. But overall, we have not seen a decline in interest from investors in expected IPO trading in the next few quarters."