SpaceX Q3 2026 earnings: AI now leads sales as profit reaches US$4.4 billion

Most people know SpaceX for rockets and the Starlink dish on a neighbour’s roof. Its latest report shows a different company. The SpaceX Q3 2026 earnings, released on Tuesday 20 October, show that renting out AI computing power now brings in more money than anything else it sells.

Revenue for July to September rose 161% to US$14.6 billion, well above the roughly US$12.7 billion analysts expected, according to LSEG. SpaceX made a net profit of US$4.4 billion, against a US$1.1 billion loss a year earlier. It is the company’s first profit since it listed on Nasdaq in June. On the same call, Elon Musk said SpaceX and Tesla are studying a merger.

SpaceX Q3 2026 earnings: a rocket company that now sells computing

The AI business, which SpaceX calls Super Intelligence, earned US$7.56 billion in sales, up 830% from US$813 million. That is about half of everything SpaceX sold. On the call, SpaceX said three things drove the growth: new computing capacity coming online, renting that capacity to AI developers, and Cursor, a popular AI coding tool it bought for about US$60 billion during the quarter. (Disclosure: TechSpotlight drafts are written with help from Claude, made by Anthropic, which rents computing power from SpaceX.)

Starlink, grouped under Connectivity, grew 69% to US$5.25 billion. The launch business was almost flat at US$1.77 billion and lost about US$7 million.

So, is SpaceX profitable? This quarter, yes, but look at where the profit comes from. Starlink made US$2.37 billion in operating profit, roughly double a year ago. The AI unit, despite its bigger sales, made US$431 million. AI leads by sales; Starlink still leads by profit.

Spending on a scale few companies match

The cost of that AI growth is large. SpaceX spent US$19.6 billion on equipment and buildings in the quarter, about three times a year earlier, and about US$16.4 billion of it went to AI and data centres. It expects to spend US$35 billion to US$40 billion in the fourth quarter alone.

Put simply, the AI unit spent about twice what it sold this quarter, and SpaceX’s total spending is set to roughly double next quarter. The open question is how long Starlink’s steady profit can carry that bill. Another is how much AI revenue depends on a few large customers renting computers.

The Tesla merger question, and who decides

Musk said both companies have formed special committees of independent directors, “at the request of shareholders”, to study combining. He said it was “a good idea”, but said calling it certain would be overstating it. He also stepped back from the talks: “Because I’m a conflicted party, I can’t actually be in the discussions of the special committees.”

There is no agreement. A Tesla deal would need a majority of all its outstanding shares, not just of the votes cast, which Musk called “quite a high hurdle”. Reuters reported, citing a person familiar with the talks, that his public support could make the committees’ work harder. Tesla shareholders may remember the 2016 purchase of SolarCity, another Musk-linked company, which led to a long court fight. Tesla’s own quarter, covered in our Tesla Q3 2026 earnings story, showed profit down 43%.

If you own the shares or use Starlink

SpaceX stock (ticker SPCX) rose as much as 10% on Wednesday and closed almost 8% higher, at US$159.31. If you hold SpaceX or Tesla shares, directly or through an index fund, a merger would change what you own. Nothing is decided yet. This is not investment advice.

If you use Starlink, nothing changes today. The company has not announced any price change. Developers who use Cursor now use a SpaceX product.

A strong quarter that rests on one steady engine

On balance, this is a genuinely good result. Sales beat forecasts by a wide margin, the loss of a year ago has turned into a solid profit, and SpaceX no longer depends on one business. That is a meaningful step for a company only months into public life.

The weaker side is just as clear. Profit still leans on Starlink, the AI unit earns little next to what it spends, and launches are flat. A merger between two companies led by the same person also asks a lot of the independent directors. The likelier path is more fast growth with thinner profit margins, while investors wait to see whether the AI spending pays back.

The next report will show whether US$35 billion or more of spending in one quarter still leaves room for a profit, and whether the committees put a real offer on the table.