SpaceX and AST SpaceMobile Sink 6%, Rocket Lab Falls 5% as Tech Selloff Hits High-Flying Space Stocks

Quick Read

• SpaceX sinks 7% days after posting its first profitable quarter, while AST SpaceMobile drops 6% as high-volatility space stocks fall harder than the broader market.

• Tesla and SpaceX formed special committees to explore a merger, with Musk stepping back from talks due to a conflict of interest.

• Musk pledged sharply higher AI computing spend, including the COLOSSUS II buildout, putting SpaceX’s freshly earned profitability immediately at risk.

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High-flying tech stocks are sliding on a risk-off turn, and space names are falling hardest. SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) stock is leading the drop just days after the company posted its first profitable quarter. Shares of SpaceX are down 6% to $150.23 Thursday morning, a decline that gives back much of the rally that followed SpaceX’s results.

In a similar drop-off, AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) stock is down 6% to $38.32. Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) stock is declining 5% to $50.76, a smaller loss than SpaceX and AST SpaceMobile that still marks a sharp retreat for the launch and spacecraft builder.

The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) is down 2%, a sign of how broadly large-cap tech is falling. At the same time, the Procure Space ETF (NASDAQ:UFO) is down 3%, a deeper slide that reflects heavier selling across the space sector. Still, both funds are falling less than SpaceX, AST SpaceMobile and Rocket Lab shares, a pattern that fits high-volatility stocks losing more than the market on a risk-off day.

SpaceX Gives Back Its Post-Earnings Rally

SpaceX reported its third-quarter 2026 results earlier this week, posting its first profitable quarter as its artificial intelligence (AI) computing division became its largest business. After the report, SpaceX shares rallied, and the decline in SpaceX stock is unwinding much of that gain. That AI business now sits alongside Starlink and the company’s launch operations, which serve NASA, national security agencies and commercial satellite operators.

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On the earnings call, SpaceX founder Elon Musk stated that spending on new computing capacity will climb sharply. A second storyline is running alongside that plan, as Tesla‘s (NASDAQ:TSLA) board has formed special committees to review a possible combination with SpaceX. Musk said a Tesla deal would need approval from a majority of all outstanding Tesla shares, and he has stepped back from the talks because of his conflict of interest.

Different Business Models Meet the Same Risk-Off Selling

SpaceX launches rockets, runs the Starlink satellite network and now rents AI computing capacity, a mix that also includes the Grok family of AI products and the Cursor code editor. Rocket Lab builds launch vehicles and spacecraft, while AST SpaceMobile is building a satellite network that connects directly to ordinary phones. Those differences aren’t protecting SpaceX, Rocket Lab or AST SpaceMobile shares from the selling, since high-volatility stocks are losing more than the market.

SpaceX’s upside rests on that first profit and on an AI division that has become its largest business. Skeptics point to cost, because sharply higher spending on computing capacity could squeeze the profitability SpaceX just reached.

Similar tension runs through AST SpaceMobile and Rocket Lab. Each company has a distinct growth story. AST SpaceMobile’s direct-to-phone network and Rocket Lab’s launch and spacecraft lineup provide it, while both stocks carry the kind of volatility that amplifies a sector decline. Both companies also sit inside the Procure Space ETF alongside SpaceX, so selling in the space fund touches each name.

SpaceX’s Compute Spending Plans Set the Next Test

Now comes the question of whether SpaceX’s heavy computing spending leaves its first profit intact. Musk’s pledge that spending will climb sharply, along with the COLOSSUS II buildout, puts the AI division’s ability to absorb those costs at the center of the story (we covered seven companies riding that same data-center expansion, from power to cooling, in a free report here).

Investors should size their positions in these high-volatility space stocks carefully. As we’re seeing today, these stocks can fall harder than the market on risk-off days.

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