Shares of SpaceX closed essentially flat Friday at $153.23, up 0.15%, before slipping slightly to $152.77 in after-hours trading, as the newly public rocket and satellite company found a measure of stability following a punishing two-week stretch that had erased much of its post-IPO gains.

The modest move caps a volatile first month on public markets for Elon Musk's space and artificial intelligence venture, one that has included a record-setting debut, a sharp multi-day selloff, and, this week, a massive bond offering that investors say has removed one of the central risks weighing on the stock.

A debut for the history books, followed by a steep pullback

SpaceX completed the largest initial public offering in history on June 12, pricing shares at $135 and raising roughly $75 billion at an initial valuation approaching $1.8 trillion. The stock surged 19% on its first day of trading, closing at $160.95, and continued climbing in the sessions that followed, briefly pushing the company's market capitalization above both Amazon and Microsoft before settling back below both.

Shares reached an all-time intraday high of $225.64 on June 16, but the rally proved short-lived. SpaceX stock fell 16% the following Monday alone, extending a selloff that saw shares tumble across three full trading sessions, with the stock losing nearly 24% over that stretch before bottoming out at $147.11 on June 23 — briefly dipping below its $150 opening-day price.

What was driving the decline

Much of the pressure tracing through SpaceX's stock in recent weeks centered on a looming........

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