SpaceX turned a profit for the first time since its public listing, but third-quarter capital expenditures exceeded revenue as the company invested heavily in its Super Intelligence business.
SpaceX recorded $4.404 billion in net income on $14.575 billion in revenue for the three months ended Sept. 30, according to results filed with the SEC. Revenue rose 161% from a year earlier, when the company lost $1.054 billion. Diluted earnings came to 35 cents a share.
Capital expenditures reached $19.593 billion, up from $6.880 billion a year earlier. Super Intelligence accounted for $16.444 billion of the latest spending. The segment generated $7.560 billion in revenue, compared with $813 million a year earlier, while Connectivity brought in $5.248 billion.
SpaceX shares began trading June 12. The company reported a $541 million net loss for the second quarter, making the latest results its first quarterly profit as a public company. Starlink had 13.6 million consumer subscribers as of Sept. 30. Its average monthly revenue per consumer was $69 in the third quarter, down from $83 a year earlier.
The results came as SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk endorsed a possible merger. “I think it would be a good idea,” Musk said during SpaceX’s Oct. 20 earnings webcast. He cited potential cooperation in software, chip design, robotics and connectivity.
Musk said his conflict of interest keeps him out of the independent committees’ review of a possible merger. The committees have agreed on no transaction terms, he said, and a deal is not assured. Musk said a Tesla vote would require support representing 50% of all its shares.
The companies already have a financial connection. Tesla’s proxy says an earlier agreement to invest in xAI Holdings became a right to acquire SpaceX Class A common stock after SpaceX acquired X.AI Holdings Corp. in February. Tesla completed an approximately $2 billion investment in SpaceX shares on March 12.
Musk gave no timetable for a merger decision. Tesla’s Oct. 19 proxy lists three proposals for its Dec. 3 annual meeting, none of them a merger vote.
