SpaceX Shares Crater 10% as Election Fears Cloud Data-Center Dreams and Tesla Merger Talk — How Deep Could the Damage Go?

Shares of SpaceX's Brazilian depositary receipt (SPCX34.SA) plunged 10.3% to BRL 44.39 on November 5, 2026, marking a steep five-day slide from BRL 51.98 as election outcomes rattled investors betting on the company's ambitious expansion into AI infrastructure and a potential corporate tie-up with Tesla. SpaceX Shares Crater 10% as Election Fears Cloud Data-Center Dreams and Tesla Merger Talk — How Deep Could the Damage Go?

Shares of SpaceX's Brazilian depositary receipt plunged 10.3% to BRL 44.39 on November 5, as a Democratic sweep in the U.S. midterm elections hammered every corner of the AI infrastructure trade. Tesla and SpaceX have shed over $430 billion from their joint market capitalization in the wake of the election results.

The Nasdaq 100 fell 6.24%, while a semiconductor ETF dropped more than 12%, extending losses from Wednesday. For SpaceX, the damage is not merely sympathy selling — it strikes at two pillars of the company's growth thesis.

A New Texas Governor Threatens SpaceX's Gigawatt Ambitions. Democrat Gina Hinojosa, who wants to enact an immediate moratorium on data centers in the state, won over incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. That matters enormously: according to Wells Fargo, 27% of planned data center gigawatts is in the Lone Star State.

SpaceX's Texas expansion would significantly increase its AI computing capacity beyond its existing Memphis-area hub, where it operates two data centers with about 1 gigawatt of compute capacity.

Perhaps no company better illustrates the potential consequences of Hinojosa's proposed restrictions than SpaceX. A moratorium could freeze permits and delay billions in planned spending, directly slowing revenue from AI cloud deals SpaceX has signed with clients including Anthropic and Google.

The Tesla Merger Just Got Harder. Both companies formed special committees to discuss a possible combination, and Musk called a merger "a good idea." But Congress can now add scrutiny; analyst Kathleen Brooks noted that "while Congress cannot stop a merger, they could slow it down."

Counterpoint Research warned that "antitrust scrutiny, national security considerations, and cross-border regulatory reviews all present significant challenges." A longer timeline means more uncertainty — and uncertainty is what markets punish hardest.

Credit Markets Are Flashing Red, Too. The cost to protect SpaceX debt against default hit a record high Thursday, extending a move sparked by election results that raised political risks for Musk's Texas-based companies.

Five-year credit default swaps widened to 284.3 basis points — a signal that bond investors, not just equity traders, see elevated risk.

The Bottom Line. SpaceX is caught at the intersection of a sector-wide rout and company-specific political exposure. As one portfolio manager put it, "Tesla and SpaceX are just a 2-for-1 special as the market attempts to re-price the risk of a material slowing in data center buildouts." Until investors see clarity on Texas permitting rules and merger terms, the stock's discount is likely to persist.