{"id":587154,"date":"2026-08-08T16:04:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/587154\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:04:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:04:15","slug":"after-the-hype-spacex-investors-return-to-the-numbers-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/587154\/","title":{"rendered":"After the hype, SpaceX investors return to the numbers \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/spacex\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/spacex\/\">SpaceX<\/a>\u2019s first earnings report was a useful antidote to some of the enthusiasm that surrounded its market debut.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The numbers looked impressive, with revenues soaring 92 per cent, losses narrowing, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/starlink\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/starlink\/\">Starlink<\/a> \u2013 SpaceX\u2019s profitable satellite internet business \u2013 continuing to grow.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Nevertheless, shares sank as spooked investors focused on SpaceX\u2019s AI spending plans. Piper Sandler analysts estimate capital expenditure will hit $65 billion (\u20ac56 billion) in 2027, $17 billion more than previously assumed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Shares have more than halved since June\u2019s peak. Was the latest sell-off merited? The FT\u2019s Lex column suggested SpaceX is the strongest case yet for dispensing with quarterly reporting. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">SpaceX\u2019s value largely rests in businesses and markets that do not yet exist, argued Lex, so short-term financial statements tell investors remarkably little.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Meanwhile, Elon Musk suggested people are \u201cunderestimating\u201d Starlink. Just six weeks ago, Musk said revenues could top $1 trillion by 2031. Now, he expects to hit that number in 2030, with a \u201cnon-zero\u201d chance of 2029.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Perhaps Starlink is being underestimated, but this seems a difficult argument to make when it sits inside a money-losing company valued at $1.4 trillion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Similarly, the phrase \u201cnon-zero\u201d is doing a lot of work. There is a non-zero chance of many things, but it\u2019s generally better to focus on probabilities than possibilities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-it-article-body__interstitial-link\">[\u00a0<a aria-label=\"Open related story\" class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/opinion\/2026\/06\/14\/sinead-osullivan-space-x-is-not-just-too-big-to-fail-it-is-too-essential-to-be-allowed-to\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SpaceX is not just too big to fail. It is too essential to be allowed toOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">This aside, there is a case that quarterly numbers are a poor guide to a company attempting to build the infrastructure for a new era of space exploration. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Still, after an IPO (initial public offering) where analysts invoked civilisation-scale ambition and investors contemplated valuations based on what SpaceX might earn in 2040, the renewed focus on capital spending and cash flow was a refreshing return to reality. For all the talk of the future, investors still have to account for the present.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SpaceX\u2019s first earnings report was a useful antidote to some of the enthusiasm that surrounded its market debut.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,605,61,60,2306,1390],"class_list":["post-587154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-elon-musk","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-spacex","tag-starlink"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}