By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed
NEW YORK, July 23 (Reuters) - Short sellers targeting SpaceX shares are sitting on an estimated $15.5 billion in paper profit since the rockets-to-AI firm's mid-June initial public offering, as its stock slipped below the IPO price, according to data through Tuesday from analytics firm Ortex Technologies.
Short sellers, who borrow shares to sell them and later buy them back at a lower price for a profit, have pressed their bearish bets on SpaceX as the company's shares slipped
below its IPO price of $135 from a post-IPO high of $225.64.
SpaceX shares have been volatile, experiencing brief bouts of strength before slipping further. On Wednesday, the stock dropped to a new low of $115.26.
"There is no sign of short sellers taking profits on SpaceX," Ortex co-founder Peter Hillerberg said.
"If anything they are leaning in harder," Hillerberg said.
About 360 million SpaceX shares, about 56% of the free float, were out on loan, Ortex data through Tuesday showed.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"The survival probability of firms who maintain a significant short position in SpaceX over time is very low," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote in a post on X on Friday.
SpaceX's lofty valuation makes it a target for short sellers skeptical of its rich price tag, but strong retail and institutional interest as well as Musk's history of public battles against short sellers make bearish bets against the company a risky proposition.
The weakness in SpaceX shares reflects in part investor concern over debt-funded AI spending. Tesla, another Musk company, reported negative free cash flow in the second quarter for the first time in more than two years as the EV maker accelerated spending on AI infrastructure, battery capacity, robotaxis and next-generation manufacturing.
(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, Editing by Louise Heavens)
