SpaceX (SPCX.US) Q3 revenue soars 161% year-on-year and turns profitable, super intelligence business income surges 830%

According to Zhitong Finance APP, on Tuesday, Elon Musk’s SpaceX (SPCX.US) released its Q3 2026 financial results. Driven by rapid expansion of its superintelligence business and ongoing growth in the Starlink segment, the company’s quarterly revenue soared by 161% year-over-year, swinging from loss to profitability. Notably, superintelligence business revenue surged 830% year-over-year, becoming the company’s largest source of income for the first time.

The financial report showed that SpaceX’s Q3 revenue reached $14.575 billion, up 161% from $5.576 billion in the same period last year and up about 87% from $7.814 billion in Q2.

For the third quarter, operating profit was $2.791 billion, compared to an operating loss of $273 million in the same period last year and an operating loss of $143 million in Q2; net profit reached $4.404 billion, a significant improvement from a net loss of $1.054 billion a year earlier—achieving profitability.

Based on US GAAP, SpaceX’s diluted earnings per share for the third quarter stood at $0.35, compared to a loss of $0.36 per share in the same period last year. On a non-GAAP basis, the company’s adjusted EBITDA in Q3 was $8.809 billion, an increase of 306% from $2.169 billion a year ago and up about 149% from $3.538 billion in Q2.

However, SpaceX’s capital expenditures in the third quarter reached $19.593 billion, up about 185% from $6.88 billion a year earlier, mainly reflecting the company’s ongoing investments into its superintelligence computing infrastructure.

Superintelligence Business Revenue Soars 830% YoY, Becomes Top Revenue Source for the First Time

By segment, the superintelligence business became the main growth driver for SpaceX in Q3. Revenue from this segment reached $7.56 billion, up 830% from $813 million a year ago and up 195% from $2.561 billion in Q2, accounting for about 52% of the total company revenue.

Among these, revenue from superintelligence solutions and infrastructure hit $7.022 billion, up significantly from $359 million a year earlier, mainly thanks to the launch of new cloud service agreements, the acquisition of AI programming company Cursor, and the expanded adoption of the Grok model in enterprise and consumer markets.

Superintelligence business operating profit reached $431 million in Q3—compared to an operating loss of $1.722 billion a year earlier and an operating loss of $1.257 billion in Q2—swinging to profitability. Adjusted EBITDA for this division reached $4.953 billion, compared to a loss of $428 million a year ago.

SpaceX indicated that Q3 superintelligence business operating profits included approximately $1.2 billion in equity incentive expenses related to the acquisition of Cursor.

In artificial intelligence infrastructure, as of September 30, the company’s nominal computing capacity reached 1.7 gigawatts (GW), up from 1.4 GW at the end of Q2 and from 0.6 GW a year earlier, mainly driven by the continued expansion of the COLOSSUS II computing infrastructure.

Furthermore, the company signed more cloud service agreements in Q3 and launched the autonomous system Grok Bot to further scale commercialization of the superintelligence business.

It is worth noting that SpaceX completed the acquisition of Cursor on August 14, with an implied equity valuation of $60 billion. According to the financial report, from the completion of the acquisition to September 30, Cursor contributed $608 million in revenue for SpaceX.

Starlink Business Revenue Rises 69% YoY, User Base Reaches 13.6 Million

As another major revenue pillar, SpaceX’s connectivity business maintained strong growth in Q3. The report showed that Q3 connectivity revenue reached $5.248 billion, up 69% year-over-year and 22% quarter-over-quarter; operating profit reached $2.367 billion, up 99% YoY; adjusted EBITDA was $3.499 billion, up 82% YoY.

Within this, Starlink consumer business revenue was $3.121 billion, up 57% YoY and 26% QoQ; enterprise and government business revenue was $2.127 billion, up 91% YoY and 18% QoQ, showing the continued expansion of enterprise and government demand.

In terms of user base, as of September 30, Starlink consumer subscribers reached 13.6 million, up 1.6 million from 12 million at end-Q2 and approximately 89% from 7.2 million a year ago. Meanwhile, Starlink consumer average monthly revenue per user reached $69, up about 5% from $66 in Q2, but still below $83 a year earlier.

SpaceX noted that Starlink’s ongoing expansion in developed markets drove user growth. In addition, by end-Q3, over 3,800 aircraft worldwide had been equipped with Starlink services.

In mobile communications, the company signed an agreement on October 8 to acquire a portfolio of licenses for up to 14 MHz paired spectrum in the 800 MHz band nationwide in the United States, to advance the Starlink Mobile strategy. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Space Business Revenue Increases 6% YoY, Starship Executes First Revenue-Generating Mission

In the space business segment, SpaceX’s Q3 revenue was $1.767 billion, up 6% year-over-year and 84% quarter-over-quarter. Of this, launch services revenue was $1.13 billion, up 13% YoY; launch and development revenue was $637 million, down from $666 million last year.

However, due to ongoing R&D investment in the Starship project, the space business segment posted an operating loss of $7 million in Q3, compared to an operating profit of $259 million a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA in this segment was $357 million, down from $674 million a year ago.

In terms of operations, SpaceX completed 35 launch missions in Q3, down from 44 a year ago. Of these, 12 were commercial customer launches and 23 were internal launches.

As of the end of September, the company had completed 113 launch missions throughout the year, sending 1,517 tons of payload into orbit. Significantly, SpaceX completed the 14th Starship flight mission in Q3, marking Starship’s first entry into orbit with a revenue-generating mission. The mission successfully deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites into the Starlink broadband constellation.

The company stated that this launch increased downlink capacity by approximately 10 times that of a single Falcon 9 Starlink mission. Additionally, SpaceX announced plans to build a new-generation spaceport, Starbase Louisiana, in Louisiana, USA to support thousands of annual Starship launches in the future, with the first launch targeted for 2029.

Capital Expenditures Surpass $48 Billion in First Three Quarters; AI Infrastructure Investment Keeps Growing

Despite achieving profitability in Q3, SpaceX’s construction of artificial intelligence infrastructure continues to drive substantial capital spending. The report shows that Q3 capital expenditures reached $19.593 billion, of which superintelligence business CAPEX was $16.444 billion (about 84% of total CAPEX); connectivity and space business CAPEX were $1.543 billion and $1.606 billion, respectively.

For the first nine months of the year, SpaceX’s cumulative capital expenditures reached $48.069 billion, up about 247% from $13.846 billion a year earlier. Of this, superintelligence business CAPEX reached $39.995 billion—nearly four times last year’s $8.077 billion.

On the cash flow front, net cash flow from operating activities for the first nine months of the year amounted to $13.097 billion, up from $4.12 billion a year ago. However, net cash outflow from investing activities in the same period reached $84.611 billion.

As of the end of September, SpaceX held $51.294 billion in cash and cash equivalents, and another $38.561 billion in marketable securities, totaling approximately $89.855 billion.

The balance sheet showed that as of the end of Q3, total assets reached $254.045 billion, up sharply from $92.079 billion at end-2025; shareholders’ equity was $176.768 billion.

SpaceX’s CFO stated in the report that the strong Q3 performance was thanks to continued growth in the connectivity business and a clear inflection point for the superintelligence segment. The leading position of the launch business, recurring revenue from Starlink, and large-scale expansion of superintelligence infrastructure are jointly boosting the company’s operating leverage.