SpaceX posts quarterly profit of $4,404 million, beating market expectations
Key Facts
SpaceX swung to a profit in the third quarter of 2026, reporting net income of $4,404 million, according to its earnings filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The results, announced on October 20, compared with a net loss of $1,054 million in the corresponding quarter of 2025, marking a turnaround in the group's quarterly performance. Earnings per share were 35 cents for the period, according to the Associated Press, as the company moved from a loss to a profit. The agency said profit was more than twice what Wall Street had expected, putting the company's reported earnings above market estimates. It described the size of the surprise by saying profit was "more than twice what Wall Street expected," alongside an increase in group revenue from the corresponding period.
SpaceX's total revenue reached $14,575 million in the third quarter, according to the official financial filing, compared with $5,576 million in the same period a year earlier. Quarterly sales thus more than doubled from the comparative period, alongside the swing in net results from a loss to a profit. Revenue also exceeded S&P Capital IQ estimates of $13 billion, according to Axios's account of quarterly expectations. The revenue beat accompanied the earnings beat reported by the Associated Press, with the reported performance exceeding expectations on both sales and the bottom line. Group revenue was split among superintelligence, communications and space, with superintelligence ranking first by revenue during the period.
The superintelligence segment generated revenue of $7,560 million in the third quarter, according to the company's filing, ahead of both communications and space. Its contribution exceeded half of the group's total quarterly revenue, making it the largest business by sales among the segments for which the company reported results. The segment's operating profit was $431 million for the period against that revenue, while it also accounted for the bulk of capital expenditure. The company attributed the business's growth to drivers including "cloud services agreements and the acquisition of Cursor," according to the wording in its earnings filing. It thus included both service agreements and the acquisition among the factors it cited for the segment's growth, alongside an operating profit.
In communications, SpaceX recorded revenue of $5,248 million during the third quarter, according to the same filing, putting the business behind superintelligence. Starlink had 13.6 million consumer subscribers at the end of September 2026, the subscription base the company disclosed with its results for the period. The space segment generated revenue of $1,767 million, ranking behind communications by reported quarterly sales for each business. Communications revenue was more than twice space revenue during the quarter, while superintelligence remained ahead of each individually in the sales rankings. Communications and space together accounted for the remainder of group revenue after superintelligence, within the company's reported business breakdown for the third quarter of the year.
Meanwhile, group capital expenditure reached $19,593 million during the third quarter, according to the official filing, exceeding revenue for the same period. That spending rose from $6,880 million in the corresponding quarter of 2025, marking an expansion in capital expenditure alongside higher sales. The superintelligence segment accounted for capital expenditure of $16,444 million, the bulk of the total spending reported by the group. The segment's capital expenditure was more than twice its quarterly revenue and alone exceeded SpaceX's total revenue from all segments combined during the third quarter. This capital expansion came during a period in which the segment posted an operating profit, while the group recorded net income instead of the loss in the comparative period.
On a consolidated basis, SpaceX's operating profit reached $2,791 million in the third quarter, according to the figures in its earnings filing. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization totaled $8,809 million during the period, exceeding the group's reported operating profit and net income. In the market, the company's shares rose 2.2% in after-hours trading following the earnings announcement, according to the Associated Press. Investor relations scheduled the earnings call for October 20, 2026, at 3:30 p.m. U.S. Central Time. Looking ahead, the company expects to complete the spectrum licensing deal in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of closing conditions.