SpaceX pulls back as US space stocks fall across the board
BUZZ-SpaceX pulls back as US space stocks fall across the board ** Shares of rockets-to-AI firm SpaceX SPCX.O down 9.8% to $172.95 on Thurs, adding to ~5% retreat on Weds, amid drop in other U.S. space stocks
** Elon Musk's SPCX paring spectacular gains since vaulting past Amazon AMZN.O in market value on Tues, though stock still trading well above the $135 IPO price
** Shares of U.S. space firms including Intuitive Machines LUNR.O, Planet Labs PL.N, Satellogic SATL.O and Virgin Galactic SPCE.N down between 3%-5% on Thurs
** AST SpaceMobile's ASTS.O stock, which rose nearly 4% on Weds after successful satellite launches, down >8%
** Satellite communications firm EchoStar SATS.O, a pre-IPO holder of SPCX, sees its shares fall >6% on the session
** Meanwhile, Oppenheimer on Thurs hiked its PT on SPCX from $190 to $250 in wake of co's Cursor acquisition
** Cursor deal means SPCX owns every layer of the AI stack, giving it cost and quality advantages, Oppenheimer analyst Timothy Horan wrote in a note to clients. Horan had initiated coverage of SPCX with an 'outperform' rating a week ago
** On Weds, The Zephirin Group started with a 'buy' and $310 PT on SPCX, saying it's a trading call driven by market structure rather than valuation
** On Mon, SPCX disclosed that the underwriters fully exercised the "greenshoe" option, boosting its total IPO haul to $85.7 bln
(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)
((lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))