SpaceX's stock price rose nearly 9% after the market closed on Tuesday, following the release of third-quarter earnings by Elon Musk's aerospace and artificial intelligence company, which easily surpassed Wall Street's expectations. The strong performance was mainly due to the explosive growth of its AI business.

The AI business revenue of SpaceX exceeds Starlink.

A major highlight of the financial report is the substantial expansion of the Super Intelligence department of SpaceX. This department's revenue for this quarter reached $7.56 billion, an increase of approximately 830% compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the revenue of the Connectivity department of the company amounted to 5.25 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 69%. This department includes Starlink. The number of subscribed users of Starlink also expanded to 13.6 million.

Strong performance has driven SpaceX to adjust its EBITDA to $8.8 billion, representing a 306% increase compared to the same period last year.

At the financial report conference call, Musk stated that as large tech companies' demand for computing power accelerates, SpaceX plans to expand its AI computing infrastructure.

SpaceX Capital expenditure for this quarter was approximately $19.6 billion, and management expects that expenditures in the last quarter of 2026 will be between $35 and $40 billion.

Musk also stated that due to the strong demand for computing power, the investment in AI computing infrastructure could potentially recoup its costs within as little as six months.

In addition, Musk confirmed that SpaceX and Tesla have established an independent committee to study potential merger matters, but no agreement has been reached yet.

Danielle Walgenbach

Danielle is a journalist who covers cryptocurrency and financial markets. With over four years of reporting experience, she is adept at breaking down complex financial and economic topics into clear and solid news stories.