SpaceX (SPCX) Stock Climbs 5% After Earnings Beat and Huge Guidance

TLDR

• SpaceX (SPCX) reported Q3 revenue of $14.58 billion, above the $12.7 billion Bloomberg estimate, up 161% year over year.
• EPS came in at $0.35 versus $0.15 expected, and adjusted EBITDA was $8.81 billion versus $6.59 billion.
• Q4 capex is planned at $35 billion to $40 billion, well above the roughly $20 billion Wall Street expected.
• Q1 2027 revenue is guided to $33 billion to $37 billion, versus a $22 billion consensus.
• The stock rose about 2% after the release and about 5% after the call ended.

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SpaceX (SPCX) stock closed Tuesday at $147.79, down 0.11%. After the bell, it rose about 2% on the earnings release and then about 5% once the conference call wrapped up.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., SPCX

The company posted third quarter revenue of $14.58 billion. Wall Street had expected $12.7 billion, based on the Bloomberg consensus.

That figure is up 161% from a year ago. EPS came in at $0.35, well above the $0.15 analysts expected.

Adjusted EBITDA reached $8.81 billion. The consensus estimate was $6.59 billion.

SPACEX $SPCX Q3’26 EARNINGS HIGHLIGHTS

🔹 Revenue: $14.6B; +161% YoY
🔹 EPS: $0.35
🔹 Net Income: $4.4B
🔹 Adjusted EBITDA: $8.8B; +306% YoY

Capital Expenditures:
🔹 Total: $19.6B
🔹 Operating Cash Flow: $13.1B

Segment Revenue:
🔹 Space: $1.8B; +6% YoY
🔹 Connectivity: $5.2B;… pic.twitter.com/4XkenOujyN

— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) October 20, 2026

Capital spending was close to what analysts predicted. Total capex was $19.59 billion versus $19.6 billion expected.

AI capex was a bit lower than forecast at $16.44 billion, compared with $16.9 billion. So the company beat on sales and profit without overspending in the quarter.

Where the Growth Came From

SpaceX said it added $6.7 billion of incremental SI solutions and infrastructure revenue from a year earlier. It pointed to cloud services agreements, the acquisition of Cursor, and growing SI models and software applications, including Grok Bot.

The conference call held a few more surprises. Elon Musk said AI spending could pay back in six months.

Paybacks are usually measured on cash flow or profit. Spending $10 in one year and earning $10 billion the next would be a one-year payback, so a six-month claim is a high bar.

Spending is about to jump. SpaceX plans to spend $35 billion to $40 billion on capex in the fourth quarter, while Wall Street had pencilled in about $20 billion.

Guidance for the first quarter of 2027 was strong too. Revenue is expected between $33 billion and $37 billion, against a consensus of $22 billion.

Demand for AI Compute

Musk said pricing for AI compute is rising. Hyperscalers are asking to rent SpaceX capacity, which he said cannot come online fast enough.

“I don’t think we’re going to have a demand issue here,” Musk said. That comment seemed to help the stock after the call.

Barron’s Al Root called it a great quarter that easily topped sales and earnings estimates. He said that held true no matter how investors feel about Musk or AI.

Before the results, the stock had been little changed on the day. It slipped $0.17 to $147.79 in regular trading.

After the release, SpaceX shares were up about 2% in after-hours trading. After the call, the gain grew to about 5%.