SpaceX shares fall 9.0% amid midterm-related regulation concerns

Session summary

Gotrade reported that SpaceX stock, traded as SPCX, ended Thursday, November 5, 2026, at $123.62, down $12.30, or 9.05%, from the prior close. The outlet said the move was sharper than the broader market decline that day, with the Nasdaq Composite falling 5.52%. The article also noted that SPCX opened at $131.34 and weakened through the session, closing only $3.23 above its intraday low.

Market context and comparison

According to Gotrade, the selloff was not limited to SpaceX. The Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, and Dow Jones Industrial Average all finished lower, and several other stocks tied to Elon Musk or the AI trade also fell. The article said Tesla dropped 10.77%, Nvidia lost 9.26%, and AST SpaceMobile declined 15.22%. It also reported that the US 10-year Treasury yield fell 5.7 basis points to 4.84% in the same session.

What the article says drove the decline

Gotrade said financial media linked the drop to concerns that followed Tuesday’s midterm election results, after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress. Citing Yahoo Finance and NBC News, the article said investors worried about possible regulatory hurdles for data center buildouts in the United States. It noted that SpaceX and Tesla declined further on Thursday over those concerns, with the Democratic win in Texas, where both companies are headquartered, described as central to the issue.

Reporting on business and regulatory risk

The article said NBC News reported that SpaceX has recently become a data center developer, and that many victorious Democrats had pledged to slow or stop AI data center construction. It added that NBC News reported Elon Musk spent hundreds of millions of dollars backing Republican candidates, and that he and his companies could face tighter regulation as well as possible state and federal investigations. Gotrade also cited analyst Dan Ives, who said a possible SpaceX and Tesla merger “now faces a much tougher regulatory roadmap to get this deal done in 2027,” according to Yahoo Finance.

Company results and other factors

Gotrade pointed to SpaceX’s third-quarter 2026 results as a support factor. The company said revenue rose 161% year over year to $14.6 billion, and net income was $4.4 billion, compared with a net loss of $1,054 million a year earlier. The article said the Super Intelligence segment generated $7,560 million, which SpaceX linked to new cloud services agreements, the acquisition of Cursor, and greater Grok adoption. Connectivity revenue increased 69% to $5,248 million, and Starlink ended September with 13.6 million consumer subscribers, up 1.6 million from the previous quarter.

Additional risks noted by Gotrade

The article said SpaceX’s Super Intelligence segment had reached 1.7 GW of nameplate compute by September 30 and depends on data center buildouts that some Democrats have said they would slow or halt. It also reported that third-quarter capital expenditures totaled $19,593 million, up from $6,880 million a year earlier, with $16,444 million allocated to Super Intelligence. Separately, NBC News was cited as saying investors increasingly question whether AI spending will produce returns. Gotrade also said SpaceX expects its planned purchase of 800 MHz spectrum licenses for Starlink Mobile to close in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory and other customary closing conditions.