Aug. 6 Turned Out to Be a Nonevent for SpaceX. After a 15% Rally, Here's How High the Stock Could Still Climb in the Next 12 Months.

Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX) delivered its first earnings report as a public company on Aug. 4, sharing its 2026 second-quarter results. There was more worry, however, about what would happen on Aug. 6. That was the day some insiders were allowed to start selling a portion of their SpaceX stock.

What happened, however, appears to be a nonevent. Instead of falling, the stock price climbed 15.8% from Aug. 6 to Aug. 7. And, despite that recent rally, one analyst has set a price target that anticipates significantly more gains over the next year.

How high the SpaceX stock price could climb over the next year

SpaceX is a major provider of rocket launch services, and has ambitious plans to establish artificial intelligence (AI) data center infrastructure in Earth orbit. Considering the nature of those businesses, investing in it is not for the risk-averse. It's also deeply unprofitable, reporting a net loss of $4.9 billion in 2025. Its capital expenditures for the second quarter of 2026 alone totaled $18.4 billion, $2.8 billion more than the year-ago period.

That said, analyst price targets suggest there's plenty of upside. Among the 40 analysts covering the stock tracked by CNN, the median price target is $217. If SpaceX were to climb to that target from its Aug. 6 closing price of $133.11, that would be a 63% gain.

What to keep in mind

SpaceX's stock price may continue to whipsaw for some time. That doesn't disqualify it from consideration as an investment, but any potential buyer should plan to hold onto it for the long term if they want the opportunity to make a meaningful return.

Building up a position using a dollar-cost averaging strategy -- adding smaller numbers of shares at regular intervals over time rather than buying all the shares you intend to in a single purchase -- could also help mitigate any concerns you might have about buying at an inopportune moment.

Jack Delaney has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.