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← Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX)

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) — 2026Q4 earnings

reported 2026-10-20

EPS $0.35 vs $0.16 est — beat

Revenue $14.6B vs $12.7B est — beat

next session +7.8% (close 2026-10-20 → 2026-10-21)

Financial flow diagram

Financial data is available in the table below.

Reported amounts; ribbons scale proportionally within each node. Negative free cash flow represents a funding gap.

View data and sources
USD · 100 million units · 2026-09-30
ItemAmount
Revenue145.75
Operating profit27.91
Net income44.04
Operating cash flow96.31
Capex195.93
Free cash flow-99.62
SI75.60
Connectivity52.48
Space17.67
Cost of revenue54.78
Research & development45.96
Selling & administration17.07
Restructuring0.03
Interest expense-6.75
Interest income8.73
Other income / expense10.25
Income tax benefit / expense3.90
Depreciation & amortisation36.44
Share-based compensation23.63
Other adjustments-16.75
Working capital changes8.95
SI164.44
Connectivity15.43
Space16.06

The dollar-denominated release uses USD, verified against the same issuer's preceding inline-XBRL statement.

Quarter-only cash flow = current year-to-date statement minus the preceding year-to-date statement with the same fiscal-year start.

Source

8-K filing ↗

Summary

SpaceX's profit improvement is supported by expanding Starlink operations and external AI compute contracts. The investment case now depends on sustaining returns through a much larger infrastructure build. Treat management's capacity ambitions and a potential Tesla combination as conditional developments; watch cash conversion, recurring margins and delivered capacity rather than extrapolating the headline beat.

Earnings call

Earnings call webcast ↗

Transcript ↗

Review

From the report

Compute contracts and Connectivity support the profit improvement, but acquisition accounting and capital intensity complicate the headline earnings picture.

  • The SI revenue step-up reflects cloud-contract activation and acquisition contribution. Headline growth should not be treated as a clean measure of organic software demand. show quote
    “cloud services agreements, the acquisition of Cursor”
    source ↗
  • Adjusted EBITDA excludes depreciation and acquisition-related equity compensation. GAAP operating profit and the persistence of those costs provide a firmer check on recurring economics. show quote
    “share-based compensation related to equity awards”
    source ↗
  • Capital expenditure substantially exceeds operating cash generation in the year-to-date statements. Funding discipline remains central despite the return to quarterly accounting profit. show quote
    “Purchases of property, plant, and equipment”
    source ↗
  • Connectivity supplies a separate operating-profit engine, supported by enterprise and government demand. That diversification matters while compute expansion absorbs cash. show quote
    “enterprise and government adoption”
    source ↗

From the call

Management paired ambitious compute expansion with higher spending needs and a margin-normalisation warning. The potential Tesla transaction remains unresolved.

  • Management's compute ambitions depend on energising and cooling infrastructure, not merely securing chips. Capacity targets remain execution milestones, not installed capacity. show quote
    “power and cooling and infrastructure”
    source ↗
  • The CFO expects substantially heavier capital spending next quarter. Financing and the conversion of contracted demand into cash become near-term tests. show quote
    “$35 billion to $40 billion”
    source ↗
  • The CFO expects gross margins to move closer to the preceding quarter. Avoid annualising the latest margin without accounting for temporary benefits and customer mix. show quote
    “some onetime benefits and customer mix”
    source ↗
  • A Tesla combination remains under committee discussion with no agreed terms. It is a contingent corporate catalyst, not an announced transaction or certain outcome. show quote
    “not reached agreement on the terms”
    source ↗