SpaceX (SPCX) in Focus After Trump Disclosure Shows July Stock Purchase and Sale

TLDR

• SpaceX stock was down about 0.9% in Wednesday premarket trading near $153.35.
• A new disclosure shows President Donald Trump bought SpaceX stock on July 10.
• The filing also shows a smaller SpaceX sale one week later.
• The transactions were part of more than 1,000 trades disclosed for July.
• The filing does not show the exact dollar amounts or explain the investment decisions.

SpaceX (SPCX) stock was down about 0.9% in Wednesday premarket trading near $153.35 after closing Tuesday 1.9% higher at $154.72. The latest move follows disclosure of stock transactions involving President Donald Trump, although there is no clear evidence the filing itself is driving Wednesday’s decline.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., SPCX

A public financial disclosure shows that an investment account in Trump’s name purchased between $15,001 and $50,000 of SpaceX stock on July 10. The same filing reports a sale worth between $1,001 and $15,000 on July 17.

Because federal financial disclosures report transactions in ranges, the precise purchase price, sale proceeds and remaining position cannot be determined from the filing. The document also does not state the reason for either transaction.

SpaceX Trades Form Part of Much Larger Disclosure

The SpaceX transactions were among more than 1,000 trades reported for July and disclosed through the Office of Government Ethics. Reuters previously reported that an account associated with Trump also bought SpaceX stock in June.

The July purchase came less than a month after SpaceX’s June 12 IPO. The company entered the public market at $135 per stock and was valued at about $1.77 trillion at the offering price.

SpaceX experienced heavy volatility during July. The stock fell below its IPO price during the month as investors reassessed its valuation and prepared for increases in the amount of stock available for trading.

A White House spokesperson previously told Reuters that third-party financial institutions independently manage Trump’s investment portfolio and use strategies that replicate recognized indexes such as the Schwab 1000. The White House did not immediately provide Reuters with a new comment specifically addressing the July SpaceX transactions.

The disclosure creates another financial connection between the president and SpaceX, whose businesses include major government contracts and operations requiring federal regulatory approvals. That relationship is a factual point of investor interest, but the filing does not establish that Trump personally directed the individual trades.

Investors Have Bigger Near-Term SpaceX Catalysts

The financial disclosure is unlikely to outweigh SpaceX’s larger operating and market catalysts by itself. The company recently received an additional $946 million from NASA for three more astronaut missions, increasing the value of that crew-transport agreement to $5.92 billion.

Investors are also preparing for a large stock unlock that could increase the amount of SPCX stock available for sale. That potential supply increase could have a more direct effect on short-term trading than the relatively small transactions disclosed in Trump’s filing.

SpaceX remains well above its $135 IPO price but far below its June peak above $225. The stock closed Tuesday at $154.72 after gaining 1.9%.

The main investor risks include valuation, continued heavy capital spending, stock unlocks and the company’s dependence on large government and commercial programs. Political or regulatory developments can also affect SpaceX because of its work with agencies including NASA and the U.S. military.

The latest confirmed development is therefore the disclosure itself: an account in Trump’s name bought up to $50,000 of SpaceX stock in July and sold up to $15,000 one week later. The filing does not provide enough information to calculate the exact return from those transactions.