Planet Labs (NYSE:PL) shares moved lower by about 4% on Thursday as aerospace and defense stocks traded down amid spillover from a report that SpaceX is looking to issue $40 billion in new debt to buy Nvidia chips for its data centers, according to Benzinga Pro.
The stock was down 3.99% at $17.04 in Thursday trading, while NASDAQ futures are down 0.60%.
Capital is shifting away from smaller, publicly traded space companies following reports of a massive $40 billion financing round by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX), as investors rotate funds into larger industry players.
Rising borrowing costs are adding pressure, with the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield spiking as high as 5.35%, its highest level since 2002, according to Trading Economics. High-growth equities are disproportionately affected by higher yields.
SpaceX Credit Risk Hits Record High
The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that SpaceX’s five-year credit-default-swap (CDS) spread—a financial indicator measuring default insurance costs—rose to 194 basis points on Wednesday from approximately 110 basis points in June. Investors pay about $19,400 annually to insure $1 million of SpaceX debt.
The yield spread on SpaceX’s 2056 bond widened to 2.36 percentage points over U.S. Treasuries, up from 1.75 percentage points in June.
SpaceX is seeking $10 billion in bank loans and $30 billion in investment-grade debt, with Apollo Global Management expected to lead the financing and Pimco in lending talks.
The proposed financing, which could close in 2027, will fund Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) chips for artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Technical Analysis
From a trend perspective, PL is still in a longer-term downtrend: it’s trading 12% below its 50-day SMA ($19.64) and 36.8% below its 200-day SMA ($27.35). The “death cross” that formed in August (50-day SMA below the 200-day SMA) reinforces that rallies have recently been more prone to selling than follow-through.
Near-term, the stock is trying to stabilize, sitting 2.5% above its 20-day SMA ($16.85) but slightly below its 20-day EMA ($17.53), which often acts like a quicker “line in the sand” for short-term momentum. That mix typically reads as a choppy, range-like tape where buyers are active, but conviction is still limited.
- Key Resistance: $18
- Key Support: $16
PL Price Action: Planet Labs shares were down 3.52% at $17.12 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Photo: PJ McDonnell / Shutterstock
