SpaceX Posts $4.40 Billion Quarterly Profit as Revenue Jumps 161%

SpaceX reported a 161% jump in revenue for the three months ending in September and a return to profitability, according to its second-ever earnings release as a public company, issued Tuesday. The results beat Wall Street expectations, and shares rose in after-hours trading.

The growth came largely from the company's artificial intelligence and Starlink satellite internet businesses, ABC News reported. The Economic Times, citing data compiled by LSEG, said revenue came in well above what analysts had forecast.

The key numbers from SpaceX's quarter

• $14.6 billion in revenue. The Economic Times reported this figure against an analyst estimate of $12.72 billion, according to LSEG.
• $4.40 billion in profit. ABC News reported that SpaceX swung from a loss of $1.05 billion in the same quarter a year earlier. The company also lost money in the quarter ending in June, so this marks a turn to profit.
• $5.2 billion from connectivity. This segment, which includes Starlink, grew 69% from the same quarter a year earlier, the earnings showed.
• $431 million in AI operating income. In the quarter ending in June, the AI unit posted an operating loss of $1.26 billion, in part because AI spending more than doubled from the prior quarter, ABC News reported.
• $7.8 billion in the prior quarter. SpaceX's first earnings report, in August, showed this revenue for the three months ending in June, up from $4 billion a year earlier, though revenue did not keep pace with costs.
• About $153.30 a share. Shares rose nearly 4% after hours following the release, according to ABC News, which put the company's valuation at nearly $1.95 trillion.

What is driving the growth

Starlink and SpaceX's wider connectivity operations remain the main revenue drivers and help fund Elon Musk's AI ambitions, the Economic Times reported. The company's AI offerings, including xAI's Grok chatbot, have not yet matched the traction of rivals such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, the outlet said.

Most of SpaceX's AI revenue instead comes from leasing data-center computing capacity to developers, including Anthropic, Google and Reflection AI. That makes the business look more like a cloud-computing provider than a traditional AI developer, according to the Economic Times. Data centers have also become the company's largest area of investment.

Starlink drew investor attention before the release. ABC News reported that Starlink acquired nationwide low-band spectrum earlier this month, which Paul Golding, an analyst at Macquarie, said suggests the company may seek to compete with U.S. mobile carriers. Golding told ABC News that investors would be listening for launch timing, plans to build terrestrial infrastructure and interest in acquiring more spectrum.

Why it matters for investors and consumers

For people who own or follow SpaceX stock, the report is the second look at how the company performs since it went public in June. The latest quarter shows revenue growing faster than costs, which was not the case in the first report.

For Starlink customers and the wider telecom market, the company has warned that expanding beyond wealthier countries could lower its average revenue per user over time, the Economic Times reported. Investors are watching whether that is starting to show as SpaceX enters more international markets and introduces cheaper subscription plans. The company also continues to spend heavily on coverage, capacity and direct-to-device mobile services.

The results also arrived a day after Musk said in a post on X that he would give one of his SpaceX shares next year to every child in the United States, calling it the first of many such gifts. ABC News said Census data estimates about 73 million people in the U.S. under age 18. Using a share price of about $150, the outlet calculated the giveaway would total nearly $11 billion. It cited Fortune data putting Musk's net worth at $927.4 billion, meaning the gift would equal about 1.1% of his wealth. The details of how any such gift would work were not disclosed in the sources.

ABC News noted that the pledge came as policymakers, investors and the public scrutinize AI's potential effects on jobs and the economy. A surge in AI spending has helped lift the U.S. economy in recent quarters, but some economists have warned it could raise inflation and hurt job prospects for some workers.

What investors are watching next

Starship, SpaceX's next-generation reusable rocket, has not begun commercial operations, the Economic Times reported. The vehicle made its first orbital test flight last month, deploying several Starlink satellites, but the flight ended earlier than planned because of an engine problem. Reliable, repeated reuse of Starship remains central to the company's long-term strategy.

The Economic Times also said investors will listen for Musk's comments on a possible merger between SpaceX and Tesla, which it described as a widely discussed possibility. Tesla is scheduled to report its own results Wednesday.

Sources: The Economic Times, ABC News