More than 900 million SpaceX shares unlock, more than doubling publicly traded float

SpaceX went public on June 12 in what CNN reported was the biggest IPO in history, but only a fraction — less than 5% — of the company's total shares were made available for trading at launch. Thursday's scheduled lockup expiry, the first in a series staggered across the next year, unlocks up to 911.5 million Class A shares held by employees and early investors who bought in before the IPO.

The stock's recent decline has been driven by converging pressures. SpaceX's Tuesday earnings report revealed larger-than-expected capital expenditures on artificial intelligence, which unsettled investors. That news combined with anticipation of the lockup expiry to produce Wednesday's nearly 14% single-day drop, according to CNN's reporting.

Ryan Lee, senior vice president for product and strategy at Direxion, told CNN that employees and early investors whose shares unlock could be sitting on substantial gains despite recent volatility, since many bought in well below the current trading range. "With these employee share unlocks, you're going to have natural sellers entering the market," Lee said, while also noting that unlocked shareholders could choose to hold.