SpaceX posts first quarterly profit as AI division drives record revenue

SpaceX reported its first quarterly profit as a publicly traded company, posting a net income of $4.4 billion for the third quarter of 2026, driven by explosive growth in its artificial intelligence division Source: Portafolio, Infobae, La República. Revenue surged 161% year-over-year to $14.6 billion, surpassing Wall Street expectations of about $12.98 billion Source: Portafolio, La República. The company's stock rose between 3.2% and 10% following the announcement, with gains also attributed to Elon Musk's suggestion of a potential merger with Tesla Source: Portafolio, La República.

AI takes the lead

SpaceX's Super Intelligence division generated $7.56 billion in revenue, accounting for more than half of total sales and marking an 830% increase from the prior year Source: Portafolio, Infobae, El Mundo. The unit includes cloud computing infrastructure, the Grok chatbot, and Cursor, an AI coding platform acquired for $60 billion during the quarter Source: El Mundo. Operating income from Super Intelligence reached $431 million, a sharp turnaround from a $1.7 billion loss a year earlier Source: El Mundo.

Starlink and legacy businesses

Starlink, the satellite internet service, contributed $5.25 billion in revenue, up 69% year-over-year, and ended the quarter with 13.6 million subscribers Source: Portafolio. The rockets and spacecraft segment brought in $1.77 billion, with near-breakeven operating results Source: Portafolio.

Capital spending and outlook

SpaceX spent $19.6 billion on capital expenditures in Q3, with $16.4 billion directed to Super Intelligence Source: Portafolio, El Mundo. The company held about $90 billion in cash and investments at quarter-end, down from $100 billion in June Source: Portafolio. Despite the quarterly profit, SpaceX reported a net loss of $1.08 billion for the first nine months of 2026, though that was 58% narrower than the same period in 2025 Source: Infobae, El Mundo.