Shares of Houston-based Intuitive Machines fell more than 25% on Monday after the company announced that its lunar lander, Odysseus, had tipped over and was lying on its side.
The company was the first private company to land on the moon and the first from the United States since 1972, but all but one of NASA’s six science and technology payloads are up and communicating. He said he could receive it.
According to Intuitive Machines, the sideways tilted payload will contain a work of art consisting of a miniature stainless steel sculpture by artist Jeff Koons, and the rest of the payload will be able to accomplish its scientific objectives. He added that this is expected.
Intuitive fell 26% to $7.06 on Monday, more than offsetting Friday’s gains when about 99 million shares traded.
The total amount of shares traded on Friday reached $1.01 billion, exceeding the company’s market value of about $960 million, according to LSEG data.
The company’s stock went public about a year ago, but only 18% of its shares are tradable, making it vulnerable to high levels of volatility.
Short interest on the stock has reached 13.7% of its float, according to analytics firm S3 Partners, which added that short demand has been steadily increasing so far in 2024.
Intuitive Machines stock was also one of the most trending tickers on the retail trader forum Stocktwits.
“Right now, we’re seeing high retail activity and stock price volatility, and perhaps some related short selling,” said Canaccord Genuity analyst Austin Moller. This will help us understand more accurately.”
