Tesla shares suffered their worst weekly decline since 2022, plunging 18% to close at $313.03 on Friday. SpaceX stock also continued its downward trajectory, falling 7.2% over the five-day period to close at $115.07, marking its lowest level since the company’s record initial public offering last month.
The combined losses wiped away approximately $130 billion from Elon Musk’s wealth, just weeks after he became the world’s first trillionaire. Acknowledging the reversal, Musk posted “(Former) trillionaire” on X Friday.
Tesla’s Cash Flow Concerns
Tesla’s steep drop followed the electric vehicle maker’s disappointing second-quarter earnings report late Wednesday. The company turned cash flow negative due to heavy spending on ambitious projects including robotaxis, humanoid robots, and a large chip fabrication facility.
Argus Research analysts, who maintain a hold rating on the stock, expressed skepticism about the strategy in a Friday report. “We expect this to pressure free cash flow and delay earnings growth, without providing any near-term shareholder return,” they wrote. “We believe it will be nearly impossible for Tesla to generate any consistency in profit growth in the near-term.”
Tesla stock is now down 30% for the year, making it by far the worst performer among technology’s mega-cap companies.
SpaceX’s Post-IPO Slide
SpaceX shares have been on a steady decline over the past month following an initial surge when the company went public. The stock has dropped in four of the past five weeks and now sits roughly 43% below its peak close on June 16.
The company is preparing for the 13th test flight of Starship, the largest rocket ever built or flown, scheduled for Friday evening. SpaceX plans to fly the new Starship V3 version from its Starbase facility in Texas. The fully reusable rocket is considered essential for SpaceX’s near-term goal of significantly expanding its Starlink satellite network.
According to a post on X, SpaceX delayed Thursday’s planned test flight “due to weather.” The company had also scrubbed a launch attempt last week when the rocket’s booster triggered a hold, causing the engines to shut down “right as they were starting to ignite,” according to a SpaceX employee who spoke during a livestream.
A successful launch of the upgraded 400-foot-tall Starship V3 would mark the first since the company’s IPO. SpaceX intends to use Starship to return U.S. astronauts to the Moon’s surface, while Musk has stated his long-term ambition to use the rocket for manned missions to Mars.
Controversial Public Appearance
Musk made a public appearance this week in what became a contentious interview with The Economist. Zanny Minton Beddoes, the publication’s editor-in-chief, questioned Musk about his support for “not just the populist right, but the far right, in fact very fringe parties in some countries.”
Beyond his financial backing and vocal support for President Donald Trump and his work for the second Trump administration, Musk has endorsed Germany’s AfD, an extreme anti-immigrant party, and the U.K.’s Restore Britain, founded by Rupert Lowe, who advocates to “reverse mass migration.”
Musk defended his positions, responding “It’s just normal people!” and criticizing Beddoes and “the traditional media” for what he called an “absurd characterization of the far right.”
Source: www.cnbc.com — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/24/tesla-tsla-spacex-spcx-stock-starship-test-flight-musk-bad-week.html
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