SpaceX posted third-quarter revenue of $14.6 billion, a 161% increase from the same period a year earlier, comfortably clearing the $12.72 billion consensus compiled by LSEG. The jump was propelled by the company’s expanding data-centre business, which leases computing capacity to outside developers rather than monetizing its own models.
The AI business is really a cloud business
SpaceX’s AI revenue comes predominantly from infrastructure rentals to firms including Anthropic, Google and Reflection AI. That makes the operation function more like a cloud provider than a frontier model lab. Grok, the large language model developed under the xAI umbrella, and the social platform X sit alongside the data-centre unit, but they have not gained the same foothold as offerings from OpenAI, Anthropic or Google.
Starlink still pays the bills
Connectivity services remain the primary engine funding the broader ambitions. The company has flagged that pushing into less affluent markets and introducing lower-priced plans could compress average revenue per user over time. Investors are watching for early signs of that dilution as the international footprint widens.
Starship remains the wildcard
The next-generation rocket has yet to enter commercial service. Its first orbital test flight last month deployed several Starlink satellites but ended early because of an engine issue. Reliable, repeated reuse of Starship is a prerequisite for launching the higher-bandwidth satellites that would expand Starlink capacity and, eventually, host AI computing infrastructure in orbit.
Launch mix shifts inward
Space operations span commercial flights, government contracts and Starship development, making the segment a heavy source of both spending and volatility. Falcon missions have stayed robust, but the company has increasingly allocated launch slots to its own Starlink constellation rather than third-party payloads, while shouldering the full cost of Starship’s development.
Tesla earnings loom
Market attention now turns to Tesla’s report on Wednesday. Speculation about a potential merger between the two Musk-led companies has circulated for months, and any comment from the CEO on that front will be parsed closely.