Hold onto your wallets, space cowboys, because Elon Musk’s latest moonshot is crashing back to Earth faster than a Falcon 9 booster. The SpaceX IPO, which briefly made Musk the world’s first trillionaire in a frenzy of investor delirium, is now officially a black hole for retail investors. One month after its historic market debut, shares have plummeted a stomach-churning 35% from their peak, leaving the suckers who bought the hype nursing massive losses.

Insiders are calling it the ultimate ‘meme stock’ meltdown. The script is classic Musk: Generate universe-sized buzz around artificial intelligence, acquire your own controversial AI startup (xAI, now SpaceXAI), and watch the lemmings line up to throw money at the rocket. The problem? The cold, hard reality of SpaceX’s actual business—launching satellites and rockets—isn’t quite as sexy as the AI fairy tale being sold. When Starlink hinted at price cuts, the facade cracked and the stock began its nosedive.

“If you bought around the first tick, you’re definitely underwater,” one analyst gloated, revealing the brutal truth behind the glittering IPO. Meanwhile, Musk played the volatility like a maestro, using the inflated stock price as Monopoly money to snap up an AI coding startup, Cursor, in a $60 billion all-stock deal. Genius or grotesque? You decide.

Now, with shares languishing around $145 and fears they could sink to $115, the ‘most valuable company ever’ narrative is looking as stable as a rocket built on hype. The upcoming earnings report and the end of the employee ’lock-up’ period—where SpaceX staff can finally dump their shares—threaten to turn this slide into a full-blown avalanche. Morgan Stanley is still betting big with a $300 price target, but that feels like a desperate prayer to the gods of momentum.

The lesson here is as old as Wall Street itself: when the hype train leaves the station, make sure you’re not the one left holding the bag. SpaceX might reach the stars one day, but right now, a lot of investors are just seeing stars after getting punched in the portfolio.