SpaceX’s pullback continues, with a smaller loss than the Nasdaq on normal volume

SpaceX closed down 1.7% Friday, a smaller loss than the Nasdaq’s 2.1% decline. Volume was close to normal: 88.1 million shares against a typical 78.5 million. Related stocks all fell, but their losses ranged from 1.7% to 12%, making them a poor benchmark as a group. A loss smaller than the Nasdaq’s, on ordinary volume, offers little sign of a fresh company-specific shock.

The retreat from SpaceX’s October 6 three-month closing high continued. But after losses of 4.2%, 2.8% and 2.3% over the preceding three sessions, Friday’s decline was milder. That does not amount to a recovery. SpaceX is still down 10% over five trading days, against a 1.9% decline for the S&P 500. Over 21 trading days, it has fallen 5.7% while the S&P has gained 0.28%.

A premarket report said full Starlink—or Starshield—service in Ukraine appeared to have been restored.^[1] During trading, President Trump denied that the White House had ordered this week’s restrictions on Starlink service in Ukraine. Ukrainian officials had complained that SpaceX limited Starshield connectivity without advance notice.^[2] A separate report described disruption to military-grade Starlink service, which Kyiv said affected critical drone operations.^[3] SpaceX earns most of its revenue from satellite connectivity, chiefly consumer subscriptions. The disruption puts the reliability of its military services in question; it does not establish that its main subscription business has weakened.

Watch whether SpaceX again falls sharply behind the Nasdaq as the Ukraine service dispute becomes clearer. That would point to renewed selling tied to the company and challenge the reading that its decline has settled into the broader market’s pattern.