SpaceX posts loss of $541m in first report since record-setting IPO

Author: Washington Post,
Publish Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2026, 2:12pm

SpaceX revenue nearly doubles to $7.8b as shares fall. Photo / Justin Sullivan, AFP

SpaceX reported a loss of more than $500 million in its first quarterly earnings report since taking its stock public in June, a continuation of the deficits for the Elon Musk-led firm with designs on domination of an emerging space economy.

The company’s stock had rallied earlier on Tuesday, jumping more than 10% by late afternoon. It was among the first positive signs in weeks for the flagging stock, which flourished after a record-setting debut but plummeted soon after, shedding around half its value from its all-time high, as investors digested the financials and road map of a company that said it plans to put data centres in space and establish a colony on Mars.

SpaceX said its quarterly loss of $541 million was an improvement over the year prior, when it shed $1 billion during the same period. On its earnings call Tuesday, the company touted its revenue of $7.8 billion, nearly double the figure from the same period a year prior, largely on the back of its satellite-based internet service, Starlink.

The company raised $75 billion after pricing its shares at $135 each in June, and its stock began trading at $150 per share. In the run-up to going public, SpaceX had disclosed a track record of losses, including $13 billion since the start of 2023. Tuesday’s results continued that trend but appeared to offset the damage partially, following losses of nearly $4.3 billion in the first quarter of 2026. With Tuesday’s result, SpaceX’s losses since the beginning of 2026 are over $4.8 billion.

SpaceX’s losses are largely driven by its investments in artificial intelligence through xAI, the start-up that Musk founded to compete with the makers of other leading large-language-model-based chatbots and was ultimately absorbed into the rocket company.

Musk, who has issued overly optimistic predictions in the past, has outlined a belief that SpaceX would become “worth more than Earth if we achieve our goals.”

Analysts, however, have signalled caution about SpaceX’s near-term road map. The company faces looming expirations of lockups, where those who acquired shares at low prices are allowed to sell their stakes on a market that has put a premium on their value. Soon after the results were announced, the company’s stock sank in after-hours trading.

It fell even further after the earnings call, where Musk touted a “milestone year” but failed to fully quell investor concerns about SpaceX’s level of capital spending.

Shay Boloor, chief market strategist at Futurum, which provides market research and advisory services, said Starlink’s successes were a bright spot for SpaceX.

“The clearest cushion for investors remains Starlink,” he said, pointing to figures such as the connectivity segment’s revenue and operating income. He said SpaceX’s available cash and funding sources meant it wasn’t fueling its AI push “from a position of financial weakness”.

The stock’s prior challenges, he said, stemmed from three factors.

“The stock’s decline since its debut was driven by a combination of an extremely high initial valuation, concern that AI [capital expenditures] were moving much faster than monetisation and the technical overhang from upcoming lockup expirations.”