HOUSTON, July 4, 2026, 12:03 (CDT)
- Intuitive Machines ended at $19.58 on July 2, losing 1.06% across the past five sessions.
- The company landed a NASA contract that could be worth as much as $148.3 million, awarded on June 30.
- The stock lagged the Nasdaq’s 2.1% gain for the week.
- The next short-interest update comes July 10, with 37.84 million shares reported sold short in mid-June.
Intuitive Machines, Inc. NASDAQ:LUNR finished the shortened week down, despite picking up a new NASA contract. Trading suggests investors may be watching for short-interest numbers now, not just the backlog.
U.S. markets stayed closed Friday for the Independence Day holiday. Nasdaq’s calendar shows July 3, 2026, as a closed date. On regular trading days, the market runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET.
The Houston-based space company ended July 2 at $19.58, falling 3.07% during the session and slipping 1.06% over the last five days. About 9.22 million shares changed hands, which is 60% of the 65-day average volume of 15.4 million, according to MarketWatch.
| Through July 2 close | Latest level / price | Day move | Week move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intuitive Machines NASDAQ:LUNR | $19.58 | down 3.07% | off 1.06% this week |
| Nasdaq Composite | 25,832.67 | off 0.8% | up 2.1% in the week |
| S&P 500 | 7,483.24 | unchanged | added 1.8% this week |
| Russell 2000 | 2,996.11 | dipped 0.5% | down 0.5% for the week |
NASA on June 30 said it chose Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace NASDAQ:FLY and Intuitive Machines to fly four Moon missions set for late 2028. Intuitive Machines landed $148.3 million for a single flight, Firefly got $144.2 million and Astrobotic got $297.9 million for two deliveries.
The award is about 79% of Intuitive Machines’ Q1 revenue, which came in at $186.7 million. It’s also about 15% to 16% of the company’s projected 2026 revenue, which is in the $900 million to $1 billion range. Intuitive Machines finished the first quarter with $1.1 billion in backlog.
| Intuitive Machines data point | Amount | Why investors care |
|---|---|---|
| New NASA CLPS award | Up to $148.3 mln | Puts a 2028 slot on the schedule |
| Base contract | $68.6 mln | Payout linked to doing the mission |
| Performance incentive | $79.7 mln | Investor payout hinges on product getting qualified |
| Q1 revenue | $186.7 mln | The contract value is close to 79% of first-quarter sales |
| Q1 backlog | $1.1 bln | Keeps work in the pipeline growing |
CEO Steve Altemus said Intuitive Machines is shifting to “commercial mass production of lunar infrastructure.” He said Nova-C gives the company the ability to “build, test, and deploy multiple landers in parallel.” Intuitive Machines In May, Altemus said the company has to “build the infrastructure, connect it reliably, and operate it at scale.” Intuitive Machines
LUNR ended Thursday under both its June 26 close of $19.79 and its June 29 finish of $20.97. Shares had closed at $21.39 on June 30 after the NASA news broke, but the move didn’t hold.
Short interest is the clearer metric for the week ahead. MarketWatch reported 37.84 million LUNR shares sold short as of June 15, or 29.52% of the float, based on its own data. MarketWatch According to the FINRA calendar, short interest data for the June 30 settlement is set to be published on July 10.
Analyst targets are scattered. FactSet data from WSJ puts the average at $41.10, median at $42.50, with a high target of $75 and low at $11. Shares last traded at $19.58.
Trade is tight heading into the week. If the short count climbs, bears are still in after the new NASA work. A drop in the short count would mean some pressure eased before shares open again Monday.
