Key takeaways
- SpaceX shares rally sharply after record quarterly earnings
- JPMorgan raises SPCX price target from $240 to $500
- AI computing growth drives increasingly ambitious Wall Street forecasts
SpaceX stock surged toward $163 on October 21 after Elon Musk's company reported record quarterly earnings and JPMorgan more than doubled its price target for the aerospace and artificial intelligence giant.
SPCX traded around $162-$163 during Wednesday's session, approximately 10% above Tuesday's $147.79 closing price. Although some early market commentary described a rally exceeding 15%, the confirmed move to $163 represents a gain of roughly 10.3%.
JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth raised his 12-month SpaceX price target from $240 to $500, maintaining an Overweight rating following results that revealed rapid growth across the company's AI infrastructure business.
JPMorgan Raises SpaceX Stock Target to $500 After Earnings Beat
JPMorgan's upgrade followed SpaceX's third-quarter results, which showed revenue rising 161% year over year to $14.6 billion.
Net income reached $4.4 billion, reversing a $1.1 billion loss a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA increased 306% to $8.8 billion.
The performance extends the improvement highlighted in our earlier earnings coverage, although JPMorgan's revised forecasts provide the latest catalyst.
Anmuth now projects approximately $254 billion in SpaceX revenue during 2027, supported by a massive expansion of artificial intelligence computing capacity.
The bank estimates that year-end 2027 annualized revenue could approach $400 billion, below management's more ambitious $500 billion–$1 trillion range.
Its $500 target values the company at approximately 20 times JPMorgan's projected 2028 earnings per share of $24.41.
The latest call represents a significant increase from JPMorgan's previous AI-driven valuation, which placed the shares at $240 in August.
SpaceX AI Revenue Surges 830% as Computing Capacity Expands
SpaceX's Super Intelligence division generated approximately $7.56 billion in third-quarter revenue, representing growth of about 830% year over year.
The business now contributes more revenue than Starlink, marking a significant transformation for a company historically associated with rockets and satellite communications.
This shift reinforces the earlier Morgan Stanley thesis that investors were underestimating SpaceX's expanding artificial intelligence operations.
Computing capacity reached approximately 1.7 gigawatts at the end of September. JPMorgan expects the company to reach 2–3 gigawatts by year-end and expand substantially during 2027.
However, the growth requires enormous investment.
SpaceX spent approximately $19.6 billion on capital expenditures in the third quarter, while management projects another $35 billion–$40 billion in spending during the fourth quarter.
That raises questions previously examined in Coinpaper's reporting on AI financing, including borrowing costs and the risks of expanding infrastructure before future revenue materializes.
Can SpaceX Stock Reach JPMorgan's $500 Target?
A move from $163 to $500 would represent approximately 207% upside, although JPMorgan's forecast is not a guaranteed outcome.
The firm's estimates require successful construction of additional computing infrastructure, sustained customer demand and the ability to finance expansion without disproportionately increasing financial risk.
The company also faces uncertainty surrounding a potential Tesla merger. Musk confirmed that both businesses established independent committees to explore a combination, but no agreement has been reached.
Previous merger discussions highlighted potential synergies alongside regulatory and corporate-governance complications.
For shareholders, the latest rally also brings SpaceX closer to levels reached during its October recovery, although shares remain below their June high of $225.64.
