Tech

SpaceX Revenue Jumps 161% as Musk Confirms Tesla Merger Committees

SpaceX posted Q3 2026 revenue of $14.58 billion, up 161%, and Elon Musk said SpaceX and Tesla formed special committees to review a possible merger.

Oct 21, 2026 - 12:24

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SpaceX reported on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, that its third-quarter revenue rose 161% from a year earlier to $14.58 billion, driven by its artificial intelligence business, and chief executive Elon Musk said the boards of SpaceX and Tesla have each formed special committees to discuss a possible merger. SpaceX shares rose about 10% in early trading on Wednesday, according to CNBC.

The quarter in numbers

Revenue for the three months ended September 30 came in at $14.58 billion, Reuters reported, above the LSEG consensus estimate of $12.72 billion cited by CNBC. SpaceX posted net income of $4.4 billion, compared with a net loss of about $1.1 billion a year earlier, and operating income of $2.8 billion. Reuters said the quarter was SpaceX's first profit as a public company; it listed on the Nasdaq in June in what CNBC described as the largest initial public offering ever. On an adjusted basis, SpaceX earned 45 cents per share, compared with an average analyst estimate of 13 cents, according to IBES data cited by Reuters.

The company's AI segment, which it calls Super Intelligence, became its largest business. Revenue in the unit rose almost tenfold to $7.56 billion from $813 million a year earlier, CNBC reported. Reuters said most of that revenue came from renting out data-center capacity to developers including Anthropic, Alphabet's Google and Reflection AI, rather than from SpaceX's own models.

Starlink, the satellite internet service, reached 13.6 million subscribers in the quarter, above the 12.19 million analysts had expected, Reuters reported. Average monthly revenue per subscriber has declined from $99 in 2023 to $69 as the service expands abroad with lower-priced plans.

Spending and outlook

Capital expenditure nearly tripled to $19.6 billion in the quarter, and Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen said SpaceX expects $35 billion to $40 billion in capital spending in the fourth quarter, according to Reuters. CNBC reported that SpaceX forecast first-quarter 2027 revenue of $33 billion to $37 billion, compared with an average analyst estimate of $22.2 billion compiled by LSEG.

Merger committees formed

On the earnings call, Musk said special committees made up of independent directors had been set up at both companies at the request of shareholders. "I think it would be a good idea, but it's really up to the special committees of both companies," he said, according to Reuters. Because he is a conflicted party, Musk said, he cannot take part in the committees' discussions.

Musk also cautioned against treating a deal as certain. He said the committees have not agreed on terms for any transaction, TechCrunch reported, and that shareholders would ultimately have to support it. TechCrunch noted that Musk holds more than 50% of SpaceX's voting power, while a Tesla deal would require approval from 50% of all Tesla shareholders, not only those who vote.

Reuters reported that Musk owns nearly a fifth of Tesla and just under half of SpaceX, and that a person familiar with the matter said the talks began in recent weeks and could result in SpaceX acquiring Tesla. Musk cited potential cooperation on AI software, chip design, robotics and Terafab, the companies' joint chip-manufacturing project, which he said should produce a first test chip around May or June of next year.

Market reaction

SpaceX shares were up 10.2% at $162.87 shortly after Wednesday's open, and Tesla shares were up 3.5%, according to Investing.com market data. Tesla is scheduled to report its own third-quarter results after Wednesday's closing bell.