Key takeaways
- SpaceX stock surged as much as 9% in after-hours trading after Q3 revenue jumped
- SpaceX's AI division overtook Starlink as its largest revenue generator
- Elon Musk unveiled massive AI expansion plans and confirmed potential Tesla merger discussions
SpaceX stock surged by close to 9% in after-hours trading on Tuesday after Elon Musk's aerospace and artificial intelligence company reported third-quarter earnings that comfortably exceeded Wall Street expectations. This impressive performance was fueled by explosive growth in its AI operations.
Shares of SpaceX climbed to approximately $161.37 in extended trading after closing the regular session at $147.79. The rally followed a blockbuster earnings report that showed revenue soaring 161% year over year to $14.58 billion, which was well above analysts' expectations of $12.87 billion.
SpaceX also reported earnings per share of $0.35, which crushed forecasts of $0.13, while net income reached $4.4 billion. This reversed a $1.1 billion loss from the same quarter last year.
SpaceX's AI Business Overtakes Starlink as Revenue Surges
A major highlight of the earnings report was the remarkable expansion of SpaceX's Super Intelligence division, which generated $7.56 billion in quarterly revenue. This represents growth of approximately 830% from a year earlier.
The division includes AI computing infrastructure, cloud services and Grok-related products, and has now overtaken Starlink as SpaceX's largest business by revenue.
(Source: SpaceX)
Meanwhile, the company's Connectivity division, which includes Starlink, generated $5.25 billion in revenue, an increase of 69% year over year. Starlink's subscriber base also expanded to 13.6 million customers.
The strong performance pushed SpaceX's adjusted EBITDA to $8.8 billion, up 306% from the previous year.
Elon Musk Shares Massive AI Spending Plans and Potential Tesla Merger
During the earnings call, Musk mentioned ambitious plans to expand SpaceX's AI computing infrastructure as demand from major technology companies is accelerating.
SpaceX spent approximately $19.6 billion on capital expenditures during the quarter, with management forecasting spending of between $35 billion and $40 billion in the final quarter of 2026.
Musk also suggested that investments in AI computing infrastructure could potentially pay for themselves in as little as six months, due to the strong demand for computing capacity.
Adding to investor excitement, Musk confirmed that SpaceX and Tesla established independent committees to explore a potential merger, although no agreement has been reached.
Despite Tuesday's after-hours rally, SpaceX shares are still below their post-IPO highs.
