SpaceX stock slips as tech trade tumbles

SpaceX ( SPCX ) stock slipped in early trading Thursday, giving back more than half of Wednesday's post-earnings gain.

Shares jumped 7.8% on Wednesday following SpaceX's upbeat third quarter results and AI commentary.

The stock is under pressure today along with the broader tech trade, following Meta ( META ) earnings and more headlines suggesting new strikes in the US/Israeli war with Iran.

As for SpaceX, it guided fourth quarter capital expenditures to $35 billion to $40 billion, up from $19.6 billion in the third quarter, as more compute capacity comes online. The company ended the quarter with $36.1 billion in debt.

"The earnings call served to amplify the enormous calls on capital that loom over the next few years," MoffettNathanson analyst Julie Zhu wrote in a note to clients.

"We are investment grade, have a very strong balance sheet, and there are a number of available pools of debt capital," SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen said on the earnings call.

Then there's the merger talk. Musk said SpaceX and Tesla ( TSLA ) have each formed special committees of independent directors to study a tie-up, and that he is recused as a conflicted party. "Do I think it would be a good idea? Yes," Musk said .

That endorsement created a "mess" for the process, a person with direct knowledge of the talks told Reuters . Insiders worry the resulting shareholder scrutiny could delay talks by several weeks.

Bloomberg separately reported that the companies are aiming to announce a deal in the first half of 2027.

On the flipside, Wall Street is now more bullish on SpaceX's prospects. JPMorgan's Doug Anmuth more than doubled his price target to $500 from $240, citing AI infrastructure growth. BofA raised its target to $275 from $235.

Barclays analyst Dan Levy flagged Tesla's annual meeting, which must be held by Dec. 6, as the likely venue for a shareholder vote. He added that a deal announced in late October or early November could push approval out six to 12 months.

Pras Subramanian is Lead Transportation Reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on X and on Instagram .