SpaceX shares rise as Q3 revenue climbs 161%

SpaceX said Tuesday revenue rose 161% year on year to $14.58 billion in its fiscal third quarter, sending shares up more than 8% after hours.

The company reported net income of $4.4 billion, compared with a loss of about $1.1 billion a year earlier, as investors weighed faster AI infrastructure growth and heavier spending.

AI unit reaches $7.56 billion

Data showed the Super Intelligence unit generated $7.56 billion in quarterly revenue, nearly 10 times the year-earlier level. The business sells compute infrastructure and data-center capacity to AI developers including Anthropic, Alphabet's Google and Reflection AI.

Capital expenditure nearly tripled from a year earlier to $19.6 billion. Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen said fourth-quarter capital spending is expected to run between $35 billion and $40 billion, while first-quarter 2027 revenue is expected at $33 billion to $37 billion, above analysts' average estimate of $22.2 billion.

The connectivity business, including Starlink, remained a second growth engine. Revenue in the segment rose 69% year on year to $5.25 billion, while Starlink subscribers increased to 13.6 million from 12 million a year earlier.

Elon Musk said special committees at SpaceX and Tesla had been formed to evaluate a merger proposal. Musk also wrote on X, "As crazy as this sounds, $1T in SpaceX revenue in 2028 is no longer impossible," tying the target to demand for AI-related infrastructure.

The dated forward call is first-quarter 2027 revenue: if SpaceX lands inside its $33 billion to $37 billion range, the equity story will remain tied to AI compute scale and the cost of funding it.