SpaceX Revenue Jumps to $14.575 Billion as Computing Business Expands
Key Facts
SpaceX reported revenue of $14.575 billion in the third quarter of 2026, up from $5.576 billion a year earlier, and swung to net income of $4.404 billion from a loss of $1.054 billion in the year-earlier period. The results showed expansion in the AI business, now the company’s largest segment by revenue, while connectivity remained the largest source of operating income among the two segments. Total revenue increased by $8.999 billion year over year. The AI segment contributed $6.747 billion of that increase, compared with $2.151 billion from connectivity and $101 million from space. Shares rose 7.5% in after-hours trading following the results, according to the Associated Press.
The revenue mix reflects differences in the segments’ scale and operating contributions: AI generated more revenue, while connectivity produced more operating income than AI. Starlink remained the company’s biggest profit generator, the Associated Press reported, even as its AI business became the largest by revenue. The company earned 35 cents per share for the quarter, according to the agency. The divergence underscores the importance of distinguishing sales growth from segments’ contributions to operating profit when assessing the results. The shift in the business mix also coincides with major capital investment in computing infrastructure.
Much of the expansion was concentrated in the AI segment, whose revenue increased by $6.747 billion year over year. Total capital expenditures rose to $19.593 billion in the third quarter from $6.880 billion a year earlier, and AI segment capital spending was $16.444 billion. The investment coincided with an increase in nominal computing capacity to 1.7 gigawatts on September 30, from 1.4 gigawatts on June 30 and 0.6 gigawatts on September 30, 2025. The company attributed the capacity increase to continued construction of its Colossus 2 project. Research and development expenses also rose by $2.305 billion, or 100.6%, year over year; the increase included $1.882 billion in AI costs and $376 million in the space segment related to development of Starship and its facilities.
The space segment reported revenue of $1.767 billion, compared with $1.666 billion a year earlier, an increase of 6.1%. The company said the increase was driven mainly by a better customer mix in launch services, despite a decline in the number of customer launches. During the quarter, SpaceX conducted 12 customer launches, including a mission for NASA to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. It also completed Starship’s 14th flight, the vehicle’s first orbital flight. The company said Starship’s first revenue-generating orbital mission carried 26 Starlink V3 satellites, with download capacity of about ten times that added by a Falcon 9 launch of Starlink satellites.
On October 26, SpaceX announced a commitment of about $40 billion for a major finance lease of graphics processing units and related equipment to provide Nvidia Vera Rubin chips for ground-based computing capacity. The company said the transaction is expected to close before the end of 2026, with lease schedules beginning when the equipment is delivered in the first half of 2027. Apollo and Goldman Sachs are leading the financing, with major commitments from entities managed by BlackRock and Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and accounts advised by KKR. The company expects capital spending of between $35 billion and $40 billion in the fourth quarter, Reuters reported. After the quarter ended, it also reached an agreement to acquire spectrum licenses tied to its Starlink Mobile strategy, with completion expected in the first half of 2027, subject to approvals and customary conditions. The Associated Press reported that an attempt to catch the Starship booster and ship with mechanical arms was scheduled for the next launch during the following month.