Tesla shares plummeted after the Starship launch was postponed
Tesla's stock price plummeted after SpaceX canceled another Starship rocket launch due to technical issues. Elon Musk’s company has lost more than $1 trillion in market value from its all-time high. Despite this, most Wall Street analysts are still maintaining a positive outlook on the company’s future.
On Friday, Tesla shares fell another 5.4% to $123.99 per share. As a result, the company’s market capitalization dropped to $1.63 trillion. By comparison, after reaching an all-time high in mid-June, Tesla’s market value stood at $2.64 trillion. Since then, the company has lost over $1 trillion in market capitalization. The drop occurred after SpaceX was forced to cancel the launch of the Starship rocket. During preparations for the launch, engineers discovered a problem with one of the engines.
The company later announced that it is preparing for another launch attempt. At the same time, Elon Musk clarified that SpaceX had decided to replace two Raptor engines at once, so the launch would likely be postponed until early next week. “We will replace two Raptor engines,” Musk said on social media platform X.
Analysts note that technical difficulties during Starship testing are not unusual. The development of a super-heavy rocket remains one of the most complex space projects in the world, so such delays are to be expected. However, every launch postponement affects investor sentiment. As a result, some investors are beginning to wonder whether the company is overvalued.
Despite the recent drop, most experts are not revising their forecasts. According to Bloomberg, more than 80% of analysts covering Tesla recommend buying its stock. The average target price is $235.34 per share. This is nearly 90% higher than the current market price. Investors expect that, once technical issues are resolved, SpaceX will conduct a new Starship launch in the coming days. A successful flight could partially restore market confidence in Elon Musk’s companies, according to Bloomberg.
The American company SpaceX postponed the 13th test flight of the Starship launch vehicle at the last minute. The reason was that some of the 33 engines on the Super Heavy rocket failed to ignite on time.
