SpaceX Q3 AI Revenue Tops Starlink for the First Time

On October 20, 2026, Wall Street Journal's Chinese-language peer Wallstreetcn reported that SpaceX would release its second quarterly report since going public after the U.S. market close on Tuesday, with Tesla following on Wednesday. The report said investors were focused on whether AI capital spending could turn into sustainable revenue, and noted that Barclays had suggested the two companies might announce a merger before Tesla's December 3 shareholder meeting, with SpaceX as the likely acquirer. Neither company nor Musk had made an official statement.

Early the next morning, the quarterly figures began to appear. CNBC's Lora Kolodny reported that SpaceX revenue rose 161% year over year to $14.58 billion, above the $12.72 billion estimate. AI revenue reached $7.56 billion, up 830%, and AI operating income was $431 million, compared with a $1.7 billion loss a year earlier. Fortune said this was SpaceX's first operating profit as a public company, with AI revenue climbing to about $7.6 billion and surpassing Starlink for the first time. It attributed the growth to computing leases, the Cursor acquisition, Grok, and reported deals with Anthropic and Google. The New York Times said the company was profitable and more than doubled revenue, driven by Starlink satellite internet and AI products, without giving a specific profit figure. TechCrunch reported net income of $4.4 billion and called AI the engine of the results, but did not disclose AI revenue, customers, or product details.

Citing The Wall Street Journal, Techmeme reported third-quarter capex of $19.6 billion, up from $6.9 billion a year earlier. Connectivity revenue, which includes Starlink, rose 69% to $5.2 billion, while AI revenue grew about 830%. Business Insider put AI-related capex at $16.4 billion, below the $16.9 billion Wall Street expected but above the prior quarter, and said AI revenue of roughly $7.6 billion exceeded Starlink's $5.2 billion for the first time. On the earnings call, Musk said power, cooling, and infrastructure, rather than chips, were now the main constraints on deploying superintelligence. Reporting currently stops at these quarterly figures and call remarks; the merger speculation remains officially unconfirmed.