In its first earnings report since a record IPO, SpaceX announced $7.8 billion in revenue, beating estimates, but posted a $541 million loss driven by $18.37 billion in capital expenditures. The company's AI business revenue tripled to $2.6 billion through new compute-leasing deals. Despite the revenue beat, shares fell over 10% as investors weighed heavy spending on future projects like the Starship rocket and orbital data centers against ongoing losses.
Stock performance since IPO
- ▪Short sellers have realized approximately $8.3 billion in paper profits by betting against SpaceX's stock since the IPO
- ▪Since its IPO on June 12, 2026, SpaceX's market capitalization has fallen by over $500 billion
- ▪SpaceX went public in June 2026 in the largest-ever initial public offering
- ▪Following its first earnings report, SpaceX's shares declined more than 10% in after-hours trading
- ▪The company's stock is more than 50% below its intraday high set after the IPO
Starship development challenges
- ▪The company's space division costs rose by $389 million from the prior year, primarily driven by Starship development
- ▪During a test flight on July 24, 2026, Starship's booster experienced a "hard splashdown" after a partial engine ignition failure during its landing burn
AI business expansion
- ▪SpaceX's AI division revenue grew more than three times year-over-year to $2.6 billion
- ▪Elon Musk stated SpaceX is building AI compute capacity "at scale faster than anyone else."
- ▪SpaceX has an agreement to acquire AI-coding startup Cursor for $60 billion, pending regulatory approval
- ▪The AI division posted an operating loss of $1.26 billion, which was less than analysts had expected
Earnings expectations
- ▪SpaceX reported a quarterly net loss of $541 million, an improvement from a $1 billion loss in the same period a year ago
- ▪The company's capital expenditures increased to $18.37 billion for the quarter, up from $2.8 billion a year prior
- ▪On an investor call, Elon Musk said SpaceX would launch data centers into space starting in 2027 and moved up his projection for achieving $1 trillion in revenue to 2030
- ▪The Starlink connectivity segment generated $4.2 billion in revenue, while the space segment generated $962 million
- ▪The reported revenue of $7.8 billion surpassed the average analyst estimate of $6.81 billion
- ▪In its first report as a public company, SpaceX announced Q2 revenue of $7.8 billion, a 92% increase year-over-year
Analyst ratings
- ▪Steve Westly, a former Tesla board member, stated that SpaceX can compete in AI, but it will not be cheap
- ▪New Street Research set a $165 target price, calling the stock's post-IPO decline an "attractive entry point" for long-term investors
- ▪Analysts at Bernstein recommend buying SpaceX stock with a $239 price target, viewing management's confidence as more important than quarterly results
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