Elon Musk's SpaceX Dominates Retail Trading, But Analyst Sees Echoes Of The Meme Stock Era

Demand for Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) shares is surging among retail investors, but this analyst is cautioning against SpaceX’s rally, pointing towards the commercial space flight giant possibly becoming a “meme stock.”

Retail Demand Shoots Up

In a post on the social media platform X on Tuesday, The Kobeissi Letter said that since Monday, retail investors have bought as much SpaceX as “every other US single stock combined in the entire prior week.”

Retail investors bought over $93 million worth of the commercial space flight company’s stock, the post said, which accounted for “~73% of all retail single-stock purchases during the day.”

“Retail appetite for risk shows no signs of slowing,” the post said, pointing towards SpaceX retail turnover exceeding $7 million during the first 10 minutes on Monday.

Retail investors are piling in to SpaceX stock:

Over the last 2 trading sessions, retail investors bought nearly as much SpaceX, $SPCX, as every other US single stock combined in the entire prior week, according to Vanda Research data.

On Monday alone, retail purchased +$93.8… pic.twitter.com/lpzuRGEIOM

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) June 16, 2026

SpaceX A Meme Stock?

Charlie Billelo, an executive at investment firm Creative Planning, cautioned against SpaceX’s rise while acknowledging that he has received criticism for his “cautionary” approach to SPCX. “Last time I saw this was in 2021 when I was warning about the meme stock/SPAC/ARKK manias,” he said.

‘History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes,” Bilello said, quoting an earlier post by him that showcased SpaceX surpassing Microsoft Corp‘s (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Amazon.com Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:AMZN) market capitalization.

My cautionary posts about SpaceX/Semiconductors seem to have struck a nerve.

Receiving many enraged/offensive e-mails.

Last time I saw this was in 2021 when I was warning about the meme stock/SPAC/ARKK manias.

History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes. https://t.co/N9MSZqPR8p

— Charlie Bilello (@charliebilello) June 16, 2026

A meme stock is a stock that gains popularity among retail investors (ordinary Americans in this case) through social media hype. GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) is a prominent example of a meme stock.

Elon Musk’s Trillion-Dollar Run

SpaceX’s rally also resulted in Elon Musk surpassing the combined net worths of other tech billionaires like former Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) CEO Larry Page, as well as Sergey Brin, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos and Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison.

However, not everyone has been bullish on SpaceX, with Keith Snyder, an analyst at CFRA, initiating coverage on SPCX with a Sell rating and a $115 price target, implying roughly 46% downside from current levels.

Price Action: SpaceX shares were up 2.06% to $205.95 during the after-hours session on Tuesday.

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