The key facts

  • SpaceX's Q3 revenue was $12.72 billion, net profit about $2 billion, above analysts' forecasts; after the report, the shares rose almost 4% in after-hours trading.
  • AI segment revenue grew more than ninefold to $7.6 billion, mostly from renting out cloud capacity; of $19.6 billion in capital expenditures, $16.4 billion went to AI.
  • On October 19, Musk promised that in 2027 he would gift one SpaceX share to every child in the US — by estimates, this would cost about $10.7 billion; he did not disclose details of the initiative.

Results exceeded expectations

On October 20, SpaceX published its financial results for the third quarter. A year earlier, in the third quarter, the company's revenue was $5.6 billion. This time, analysts forecast revenue of $12.72 billion and net profit of about $2 billion; the actual results turned out to be above expectations. After the report was published, the company's shares rose almost 4% in after-hours trading.

Growth driven by Starlink and AI

According to Reuters, the Starlink satellite network and other telecommunications projects have become one of SpaceX's main financial pillars; this business also helps finance Musk's plans in artificial intelligence. Revenue of the AI segment grew more than ninefold to $7.6 billion, but most of the growth came from renting out cloud computing capacity. The company's own AI products, including the Grok chatbot, have not yet taken leading positions against competitors.

Large capital expenditures

The AI segment requires large investments: of SpaceX's total capital expenditures of $19.6 billion, $16.4 billion went specifically to this area. Total capital expenditures were almost three times higher than last year's figure, and the company expects that in the near term spending will remain at this level.

Promise to give shares to children

On October 19, Musk wrote on the social network X that in 2027 he would gift one SpaceX share to every child in the US. He called it the first of several such distributions in the future, but did not explain how the initiative would be implemented. According to the calculation given in the post, based on the company's value at that time, the total size of such a gift could be about $10.7 billion.

Context with Anthropic

Musk's statement came a day after Anthropic announced its intention to direct at least 5% of its shares to a 'Public Interest Fund.' At the latest valuation, this stake was worth about $48 billion; the funds could go to donations to non-profit organizations or direct payments to specific groups of the population.