Intuitive Machines stocks rise by 300% as Odysseus spacecraft reaches near Moon

With its IM-1 mission headed for the lunar surface, shares of Intuitive Machines have risen more than 300% since early January, just over a month after they reached all-time lows. 

Wall Street analysts attributed the increase to the enthusiasm of ordinary investors at the space company's advancement towards an extraordinary objective.

With the appropriate ticker "LUNR," the Texas-based lunar company's stock is currently trading for over $9 per share, a significant increase from its January lows of about $2. This week, the stock of IM-1 hit almost $13 in trade as the company advanced through milestones before attempting a landing.

“We’ve never witnessed a publicly traded company go through [a moon landing attempt]. So this is new, not just for investors, but for us analysts as well,” Cantor Fitzgerald’s Andres Sheppard told CNBC.

Sheppard compared Intuitive Machine’s landing attempt, expected late Thursday, to a biotech company waiting on an FDA approval for a new drug: “It’s a bit of a binary outcome,” Sheppard said.

While Sheppard said he could see Intuitive’s stock price climbing to near $15 a share if the landing is successful, he cautioned that a last-minute mishap could drag the stock down.

And in the event of a further surge, he noted: “that valuation is certainly ahead of the company’s financials” — as “people are getting caught up” in the excitement and potential history of IM-1 landing on the moon.

Analysts noted that aside from the financial and technological advancements that IM-1 represents for Intuitive Machines, there is excitement surrounding what may be the first American landing on the moon in more than 50 years and the first by a company organisation as opposed to a government agency.