{"id":941130,"date":"2026-10-21T09:20:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T09:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/941130\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T09:20:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T09:20:23","slug":"spacex-quarterly-revenue-jumps-from-renting-out-its-compute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/941130\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX quarterly revenue jumps from renting out its compute"},"content":{"rendered":"

Elon Musk\u2019<\/a>s SpaceX posted a third-quarter profit Tuesday that \u200bblew past estimates as revenue more than doubled thanks to its surging AI business, sending its shares up 2.5% in extended trading.<\/p>\n

Capital expenses nearly tripled as \u200cit invested in compute infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in an inflection moment for SpaceX across launch, connectivity and superintelligence,\u201d Musk said on a call with investors.<\/p>\n

Starlink and SpaceX\u2019s broader connectivity operations have been the company\u2019s main financial engine, underpinning Musk\u2019s AI ambitions. <\/p>\n

But SpaceX\u2019s own AI software, including xAI\u2019s Grok, has so far been overshadowed by rivals OpenAI, Anthropic and Alphabet\u2019s Google.<\/p>\n

Revenue in the third quarter surged 161% to $14.58 billion for the three months \u200bended Sept. 30, compared with analysts\u2019 estimate of $12.72 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. <\/p>\n

It reported a net income of $4.4 billion versus a net loss of $1.1 billion \u200ba year earlier and analysts\u2019 expectation for a profit of $1.57 billion. On a per-share basis, it earned 45 cents according to IBES calculations, \u2060outstripping a 13-cent average estimate.<\/p>\n

AI revenue rose more than ninefold to $7.6 billion, mostly from renting out computing capacity, but AI took $16.4 billion of the company\u2019s $19.6 billion in capital spending, which \u200bSpaceX expects to stay near that level in the near future.<\/p>\n

SpaceX is making its AI money mainly by renting out data center capacity to developers such as Anthropic, Google and Reflection AI rather \u200bthan from its own models, a business closer to a cloud provider\u2019s than an AI lab\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith AI revenue now the company\u2019s biggest business line, the company\u2019s hyperscale business is quickly providing operating strength and leverage which will carry into the advancements of its satellite and launch business. Increasingly the strength and diversification of SpaceX makes a merger with Tesla feel imminent,\u201d said Daniel Newman, CEO of tech research group the Futurum \u200bGroup.<\/p>\n

Barclays suggested last week that a deal could be announced before Tesla\u2019s annual meeting, with SpaceX the likelier acquirer, though neither company nor Musk has officially committed to favoring a \u200bdeal.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s AI business spans Grok, social media platform X and a fast-growing data center operation. It is also the company\u2019s biggest area of investment.<\/p>\n

The business earns revenue from compute contracts with Anthropic, Alphabet\u2019s Google and Reflection \u200cAI.<\/p>\n

Operating losses \u2060at the AI unit have been large, and SpaceX has cautioned it will need sustained investment before it can consistently generate profits.<\/p>\n

The satellite internet unit has continued to expand its subscriber base, aided by additional satellite launches and a growing range of consumer, enterprise, aviation, maritime and government services.<\/p>\n

Starlink grows subscribers<\/p>\n

Starlink reached 13.6 million subscribers in the third quarter, above the 12.19 million analysts expected, but growth is coming at a price: Average monthly revenue per subscriber has fallen from $99 in 2023 to $69 in the third quarter as it expands abroad with cheaper plans.<\/p>\n

The \u200bcompany has said geographic expansion beyond the wealthiest \u200bcountries could push average revenue per user \u2060lower over time. Investors have been keen to know whether that pricing pressure has started to show up as SpaceX enters more international markets and rolls out lower-priced plans.<\/p>\n

Investors are also watching whether SpaceX can keep growing while improving the economics of its network. It is spending heavily<\/a> \u200bon coverage, capacity and direct-to-device mobile services.<\/a><\/p>\n

Starship, SpaceX\u2019s next-generation reusable rocket system, has yet to enter commercial service. It is expected to enable \u200bdeployment of higher-bandwidth Starlink \u2060satellites and orbital AI-computing infrastructure. The company\u2019s ability to turn Starship into a reliably reusable vehicle is central to its longer-term strategy.<\/p>\n

Starship costs mount<\/p>\n

SpaceX successfully deployed several Starlink satellites last month, in Starship\u2019s first orbital test flight that ended hours earlier than expected after an engine issue.<\/p>\n

The space segment includes commercial launches, government missions and Starship development and remains a significant source of costs and \u2060uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Falcon launch activity \u200bhas stayed robust, but revenue can vary with the mix of internal Starlink deployments, commercial customer missions and \u200bgovernment contracts.<\/p>\n

SpaceX has increasingly prioritized launches for its own satellite network over third-party payloads while absorbing significant costs tied to Starship\u2019s development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX posted a third-quarter profit Tuesday that \u200bblew past estimates as revenue more than doubled thanks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":941131,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[49,48,66,306],"class_list":["post-941130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=941130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/941131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=941130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=941130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=941130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}