In rocketry, Max Q is the moment of maximum aerodynamic stress on an ascending rocket, the point where the physical forces trying to tear it apart are strongest.
Morgan Stanley borrowed that concept in a note shared with me at TheStreet to describe exactly what SpaceX (SPCX) is about to experience
The company reports its first quarter as a public company on August 4th. But earnings are almost beside the point. SpaceX debuted at $135 on June 12, surged to an all-time high of $225.64 by June 16, and has since fallen approximately 50% from that peak to around $112 as of this writing, according to Yahoo Finance.
The stock trades nearly 20% below its IPO price. A market cap that briefly touched $3 trillion, surpassing both Amazon and Microsoft simultaneously, has also contracted to approximately $1.48 trillion as of this reporting. That $1.5 trillion loss in market cap is larger than Tesla’s entire current valuation at $1.17 trillion.