SpaceX (SPCX) RSU sell-vs-hold
Calculator · free · no signup · SPCXSell at vest or hold? Compare after-tax payout from selling SpaceX RSUs at vest vs. holding through the LTCG cliff at 12 months.
Beta · invite-only · AlphaLatitude Inc. · Free Tools
Your vest
Tax inputs
Hold strategy
Best after-tax payout — at year 1 yr
$47,709
Sell + invest wins by $4,981 over Hold 1 yr.
Estimates only. Not financial advice.
Heads-up: under-withholding. Your employer withholds federal tax at the IRS supplemental rate (22.0% on this vest, ≈ $17,600). Your marginal federal rate on this vest is 32.7%, owing $26,171. Expect to settle the $8,571 gap at tax time.
The hidden purchase
Tax was paid at vest either way. Holding is mathematically equivalent to taking $44,509 in after-tax cash and buying $44,509 of SPCX today.
Most diversification frameworks would advise against a purchase that size in a single name; the right answer depends on your conviction in SPCX. Holding past one year converts the gain to LTCG.
Sell + invest
Best payout| Vest value (shares × price) | $80,000 |
| Federal | |
| State | |
| Medicare | −$1,160 |
| Additional Medicare | −$720 |
| Market gain over 1 yr at 10.0% | $4,451 |
| Cap-gain tax on diversified gain — LTCG (federal + state + NIIT) | −$1,251 |
| Net at year 1 yr | $47,709 |
Sell every share at vest; invest the after-tax cash at the market return for 1 yr, then liquidate. Diversified — no single-stock concentration risk.
Hold 1 yr
| Vest value (shares × price) | $80,000 |
| Vest tax (federal + state + FICA) | |
| Net at year 1 yr | $42,728 |
Sold 444 shares to cover vest tax (net-settled); kept 556 shares 1 yr to qualify for long-term capital gains.
Social Security + Medicare are payroll taxes (collectively called FICA) — they apply because you're still employed at vest.
Both columns are stated in year-1 yr dollars. The sell side compounds at the market return; the hold side compounds at your single-stock expected return after a 20% volatility drag.
Estimates only. Assumes net-settled (sell-to-cover) vesting; double-trigger and pre-IPO RSUs are out of scope. Excludes multi-state moves, AMT interactions on other equity, and 83(b) elections. Not financial advice.
You evaluated one RSU vest. The beta plans every vest of every grant across years, with concentration and AMT in the loop.
Request beta access →Related calculators: RSU Lot Order Calculator · Stock Concentration Calculator
About SpaceX
SpaceX (SPCX) is a public Aerospace/Defense company, incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Hawthorne, CA. IPO'd Jun 12, 2026.
Last close: $112.2 per share (as of 2026-07-31).
IPO June 2026.
Equity grants at SpaceX typically include incentive stock options (ISOs), non-qualified stock options (NSOs), and restricted stock units (RSUs).
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., doing business as SpaceX, is an American spaceflight, telecommunications, and artificial intelligence company headquartered at the Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. The company operates three divisions: "Space", which conducts more orbital launches annually than any other launch provider, including national programs; "Connectivity", which operates Starlink, a communications satellite company; and "Artificial intelligence", which operates Grok, X, and data centers.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Elon Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies Corp. in March 2002 with the stated goal of reducing launch costs enough to make Mars colonization economically viable. SpaceX develops the Falcon 9 reusable rocket, the Starship heavy-lift vehicle, and Starlink, a low-Earth-orbit broadband network that reached 10.3 million subscribers across 164 countries by March 2026. The company reported $18.7 billion in 2025 revenue, with Starlink accounting for 61% of that total. SpaceX went public on Nasdaq in June 2026 under ticker SPCX, pricing at $135 per share and raising roughly $75 billion in the largest IPO in history.
Equity comp at SpaceX
- Twice a year (typically May and November), SpaceX organizes a window where employees can sell some of their vested shares to approved outside buyers. The industry name for this is a 'tender offer'. Because SpaceX is unlikely to IPO soon, these twice-yearly events are the main way employees can convert SpaceX equity into cash. Most planning questions for SpaceX employees ('when can I sell?', 'how much will I get?') really come down to the next tender's pricing and how many shares the company lets each employee sell.
- RSUs use double-trigger vesting. Two things must both happen before the shares are yours: (1) the normal time-based vesting completes, and (2) the company has a liquidity event (an IPO or an acquisition). Until both happen, you do not yet own the shares and you do not owe tax on them.
Researched 2026-05-06.
OptionsAhoy is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by SpaceX.
SpaceX (SPCX) RSUs vest as ordinary income at the price on vest day. The decision is whether to sell at vest and reinvest, or hold the shares through the 12-month LTCG cliff. This calculator runs both paths through the same after-tax math so you can compare like-for-like.
Example: 500 SpaceX (SPCX) RSUs vesting at $112.2 per share is $56,100 of ordinary income on vest day. After roughly 32% combined federal + state + FICA (~$17,952), the post-tax share value is ~$38,148. Holding 12 months for long-term capital-gains treatment then only matters for the price change between vest and sale; the ordinary income at vest is already locked in. The calculator runs both paths through the same after-tax math.
All SpaceX tools → · Use the generic RSU Sell-vs-Hold Calculator for any company. Diversifying multiple RSU lots? See the lot-by-lot sell order →
SpaceX equity questions
- Should I sell or hold my SpaceX RSUs at vest?
- SpaceX restricted stock units (RSUs) are taxed as ordinary income on their value at vest whether or not you sell. The only open decision is what to do with the shares afterward: sell at vest and reinvest, or hold past twelve months for long-term capital-gains treatment on any further gain. The calculator above runs both paths through the same after-tax math so you can compare them directly.
- Does SpaceX grant ISOs, NSOs, or RSUs?
- Equity compensation at SpaceX typically takes the form of incentive stock options (ISOs), non-qualified stock options (NSOs), and restricted stock units (RSUs). Incentive stock options can trigger the alternative minimum tax (AMT) when you exercise. Restricted stock units are taxed as ordinary income when they vest.
- When did the SpaceX IPO lockup expire?
- SpaceX (SPCX) went public on June 12, 2026. The standard post-IPO lockup runs 180 days, so employee and insider shares generally became sellable around December 9, 2026. Confirm against your own grant paperwork, since some lockups release early or in stages.
- Do SpaceX RSUs use double-trigger vesting?
- Yes. SpaceX restricted stock units (RSUs) vest only when two things both happen: the time-based schedule completes, and the company has a liquidity event such as an initial public offering (IPO) or an acquisition. Until both occur you do not own the shares and owe no tax on them.
One piece of the puzzle.
OptionsAhoy plans your SpaceX equity alongside hedging, vesting, and de-concentration, across bullish, neutral, and bearish market scenarios. Free during beta.