SpaceX short interest overtakes Tesla ahead of earnings, lockup expiration
Bearish wagers against SpaceX have eclipsed those against Tesla as investors brace for the rocket company’s first earnings report as a public company and a series of insider share unlocks that could sharply expand the stock’s public float. Notional short interest in SpaceX has climbed to about $23.6 billion, topping Tesla’s roughly $22 billion, according to S3 Partners. Short sellers now hold an estimated 206 million SpaceX shares, or 32.2% of the company’s publicly tradable float, ahead of Tuesday’s quarterly results and the first insider lockup expiration on Thursday. SPCX mountain 2026-06-15 SpaceX since IPO When the company began trading in June, only about 40 million SpaceX shares were sold short, representing roughly 5% to 7% of its publicly tradable float, S3 data showed. Overtaking Tesla is particularly notable because the electric-vehicle maker has long been one of Wall Street’s favorite targets for short sellers. Unlike Tesla, SpaceX is not yet included in the S & P 500 or other major U.S. equity indexes, meaning its shares are held by a narrower universe of investors and have a much smaller public float. That makes the size of the short position all the more striking. The buildup in bearish bets comes after a stunning reversal for one of the year’s hottest debuts. Since its first trade on June 12, SpaceX has lost more than $500 billion in market value and fallen over 50% from its intraday high, coming off a fourth consecutive weekly decline. Short selling refers to a trading strategy that allows investors to bet that the price of a stock or security will fall. The first lockup expiration this week will make roughly 20% to 30% of previously restricted insider shares eligible for sale, according to Bernstein. That will be followed by staggered releases of about 7% of total shares at regular intervals through October, another unlock tied to the company’s third-quarter earnings and a final release after 180 days. By December, those events could increase SpaceX’s public float to as much as 40% of shares outstanding, Bernstein estimates. “We have found many investors unwilling to buy SpaceX shares in the interim, based on fundamentals, given the lockup overhang that will exist at least into December,” Bernstein analysts said in a note.
