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SpaceX's AI Business Just Overtook Starlink

Third-quarter revenue rose 161% to $14.6 billion, led by an AI segment whose sales grew 830%. SpaceX expects $33 billion to $37 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2027, and up to $40 billion of capital spending in the fourth quarter.

By Marcus Rodriguez · Oct 22, 2026, 1:20 AM EDT · Updated Oct 23, 2026, 5:30 PM EDT

For information only, not investment advice. Prices delayed.

Tickers: SPCX

At SpaceX ($SPCX), the biggest business is no longer Starlink. Revenue rose 161% from a year earlier to $14.6 billion, the company reported on Tuesday. Its Super Intelligence (SI) segment, the AI business, brought in $7.6 billion of it, up 830%, ahead of Connectivity, the Starlink unit, at $5.2 billion. SpaceX credited new cloud services agreements, its acquisition of Cursor and wider use of Grok. Cursor alone added $608 million after the deal closed in mid-August, so not all of that growth is organic.

Net income was $4.4 billion, helped by non-operating items including a tax benefit. It was SpaceX's first profit as a public company, Reuters noted, and adjusted earnings of 45 cents a share topped a 13-cent estimate. Starlink grew operating income 99% to $2.4 billion and reached 13.6 million subscribers, above the 12.19 million analysts expected. The SI segment earned $431 million at the operating line and the Space segment lost $7 million, The Verge reported. Per the company, that SI figure already absorbs $1.2 billion of stock compensation tied to the Cursor deal.

The guidance is what stands out. On the earnings call, CFO Bret Johnsen said SpaceX expects fourth-quarter capital spending of $35 billion to $40 billion and first-quarter 2027 revenue of $33 billion to $37 billion. Elon Musk went further, saying the trajectory implies annual recurring revenue of "somewhere between $500 billion and $1 trillion" by the end of 2027. That's a CEO's ambition, not formal guidance.

Tags: earnings · ai · guidance