Up to 911.5 million SpaceX shares became eligible for sale on Thursday as a restriction called a lockup expired, unlocking a position valued at more than $100 billion for employees and early investors (MarketWatch, 2026-08-05). A separate group of up to 455.8 million shares remains locked and cannot be sold yet (MarketWatch, 2026-08-06).

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. trades under the ticker symbol SPCX (MarketWatch). The 911.5 million unlocked shares give insiders their first chance to sell stock since the company went public. Employees and certain early investors were allowed to sell these shares after the company's earnings report (Reuters, 2026-07-16). The shares became eligible for sale 48 hours after the lockup officially expired, per the agreement's terms (MarketWatch/Facebook).

A lockup is a rule built into most IPO agreements that stops insiders — employees, founders, and early backers — from selling their shares for a set period after a company goes public. Think of it like a dam holding back water. When the lockup lifts, a lot of shares can rush into the market at once, and that sudden supply can push the stock price down.

SpaceX is also offering to buy insider shares at $97 each through what's called a tender offer, which gives sellers a way to cash out directly through the company rather than only on the open market (MarketWatch/Facebook). The $97 price gives insiders a reference point: they can either take the company's offer or try to sell on the open market, where prices have already been shifting.

In the days before the unlock, regular investors were buying SPCX on the dip, betting that the stock was cheap before the expected wave of new shares hit the market (MarketWatch, 2026-08-05). That ran against what Reuters had reported earlier, calling a selloff in SpaceX shares ahead of the lockup expiry an "ominous sign" for the stock's near-term direction (Reuters, 2026-07-16). So you have two different groups doing opposite things: big players selling, small investors buying.

Here is why this matters for anyone watching SPCX. When 911.5 million shares suddenly become sellable, the pool of shares trading on the open market grows fast. Even if only a small portion of insiders decide to sell, that volume can overwhelm the normal daily trading in the stock and create downward pressure on the price. The $97 tender offer soaks up some of that potential selling, but the reports do not say how many shares the tender can absorb. The gap between the $97 offer and the actual market price will determine whether enough insiders take the deal to ease the pressure.

The 455.8 million shares that remain locked are a second supply event to watch. Those shares will become sellable at a future date, so Thursday's expiry is the first test, not the last. Anyone trying to value SPCX has to think about both the shares unlocking now and the ones still waiting down the road.

The broader context here is that lockup expiries are a normal part of life after a company goes public. The market's reaction usually comes down to how many new shares are hitting the market compared to how many typically trade each day, not whether the business itself is in trouble. What makes this one stand out is the size: over $100 billion in value becoming sellable in a single stock. Even with the tender offer, the sheer amount of potential selling creates downside risk for the stock in the near term. Reuters calling the pre-expiry selloff "ominous" reflects that standard concern, though the retail buying reported by MarketWatch on August 5 makes the picture more complicated than a simple downward slide.

The things to watch are simple: the gap between SPCX's trading price and the $97 tender level, how many insiders use the tender versus selling on the open market, and how the stock price reacts in the days after the unlock. If insiders mostly take the tender, selling pressure stays contained. If they skip it and sell at market prices instead, the stock takes the hit directly. The next several trading days will show whether the market has already priced in this wave of new shares or whether more pressure is still to come.