SpaceX Just Made Its First Profit as a Public Company. Musk Confirmed Tesla Merger Talks

Key Takeaways

• The rocket company is a listed stock now, and it just had a blowout quarter: SpaceX (SPCX) reported third-quarter revenue of $14.58 billion, up about 161% from a year earlier and well ahead of the roughly $12.7-13 billion analysts expected, with net income of $4.4 billion against a $1.05 billion loss a year ago, its first quarterly profit as a public company.
• The shares jumped about 6.6% after hours to roughly $157, having closed around $147.50 before the release.
• Musk confirmed the big one: Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX have each formed special committees to discuss a potential merger. Committees being formed is a real step, and it is not the same as a deal being agreed.
• It isn't really a rocket company any more: launch revenue was $1.77 billion, barely up from $1.67 billion a year ago. The growth came from connectivity (Starlink, around 13.6 million subscribers), where operating income roughly doubled to $2.37 billion, and from the AI and compute arm, which swung to a $431 million profit.
• The IPO context: SpaceX priced at $135 a share, began trading on the Nasdaq on 12 June 2026 raising roughly $86 billion, the largest IPO on record, and briefly carried a market value above $2 trillion. It then fell as low as $104.83 in early August around its first lockup expiry.
• The honest catch: fourth-quarter capital spending guidance was raised to $35-40 billion, trailing cash flow is deeply negative, Musk holds roughly 82% of voting power, and the merger is exploratory. SPCX and TSLA are examples to research, not recommendations.
• Research it your way: you can explore global stocks and ETFs from just $1 with zero commission on the Nemo.money app. (Not investment advice; your capital is at risk.)

Introduction

For two decades, "can I buy SpaceX shares?" had one answer: no. It was the most famous private company on earth, the one every list of future IPOs started with, and for years nothing happened.

Then in June it happened all at once. SpaceX priced its shares at $135, began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX on 12 June, raised roughly $86 billion in the largest initial public offering ever recorded, and briefly carried a market value above $2 trillion on its first day.

On Tuesday it delivered its third quarterly report as a public company, and the numbers were startling: revenue of $14.58 billion, up about 161% in a year, and net income of $4.4 billion, its first profit since listing, against a loss in the same quarter last year. The shares rose about 6.6% after hours.

Then came the part that will dominate every conversation: Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX have each formed special committees to discuss a possible merger between the two companies.

There is a lot here, and much of it is genuinely new, so this guide takes it in order: what the company actually earns money from now (hint: it is not rockets), what the IPO has done since June, what a merger committee does and doesn't mean, and the one lesson every investor should take from SpaceX's own share-price journey since listing.

It's educational, not investment advice. To explore, you can invest in global stocks and ETFs from just $1 with zero commission on the Nemo.money app.

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The Quarter

• 💰 Revenue: $14.58 billion, up roughly 161% year on year and ahead of the roughly $12.7-13 billion analysts expected, depending on whose consensus you use.
• 🏆 Profit, for the first time since listing: net income of $4.4 billion, against a net LOSS of $1.05 billion in the same quarter a year earlier. Operating income came in at $2.8 billion.
• 📈 Earnings per share beat heavily: against expectations of roughly 13 cents, reported figures came in far higher (coverage cites 35 cents, with CNBC reporting 45 cents on an adjusted basis, the gap is a measurement difference, and either way it was a large beat).
• ⚡ Adjusted EBITDA rose about 306% to $8.8 billion, which is the number that captures how quickly the business's economics have changed.
• 📊 The market's response: shares rose about 6.6% in after-hours trading to roughly $157, from a close near $147.50.
• 🔭 And the forecasts are enormous: management guided first-quarter 2027 revenue to $33-37 billion and pointed to reaching roughly $100 billion of annualised revenue by the end of this year, with plans to add 10-20 gigawatts of compute capacity during 2027. Those are company projections, not results.

It Isn't Really a Rocket Company Any More

This is the most important thing in the report, and it is easy to miss behind the headline.

• 🚀 Launch: $1.77 billion of revenue, barely moved from $1.67 billion a year earlier. The business everyone associates with the name is now the slowest-growing part of it, and the space division was roughly breakeven, losing about $7 million.
• 🛰️ Connectivity is the engine: Starlink, with around 13.6 million subscribers, saw operating income roughly DOUBLE to $2.37 billion. Selling internet subscriptions to households and ships and planes turns out to be a far better business than selling launches, which is exactly why America's telecom giants fell 7% when Starlink moved into mobile.
• 🤖 And the AI arm is the surprise: the compute and "super intelligence" business swung to a $431 million operating profit, with management pointing to it as a main growth driver and raising spending to expand it.
• 🧭 So what are you actually buying? A satellite-internet utility, an AI infrastructure business, and a rocket company, in roughly that order of financial importance. If you came for the rockets, read the segments twice, because the market is pricing the other two.
• 🧠 The research habit this teaches: always break a company into its segments before deciding what it is. Famous names often earn their money somewhere unglamorous, the same way Amazon's (AMZN) profit comes mostly from cloud computing rather than the shop.

The IPO, Four Months On

• 🔔 The listing: shares were priced at $135 on 11 June and began trading on the Nasdaq on 12 June under SPCX, raising roughly $86 billion, the largest initial public offering on record, and opening around $150. On day one the market value reached roughly $2.1 trillion, placing it among the most valuable US-listed companies.
• 📉 Then the slump: the stock fell to a low of $104.83 on 3 August, more than 20% below its IPO price, around the time its first lockup expired and over 900 million additional shares became tradable.
• 📈 And the recovery: it climbed back through the $135 IPO price in August after a strong first report, and traded near $147.50 before Tuesday's results, with the after-hours move taking it to roughly $157.
• 🏛️ One structural fact to know: Musk holds roughly 42% of the shares but around 82% of the VOTING power through super-voting stock. Ordinary shareholders own economics, not control, a common arrangement in founder-led listings and one worth understanding before you buy any of them.
• 🌍 It also reframes this autumn's IPO season: Africa's largest-ever listing is underway in Lagos, a hot wearables IPO was pulled despite heavy demand, and the biggest listing of all has already been and gone. The private-to-public pipeline is moving faster than at any time in years.

The Merger Question

• 🤝 What was confirmed: Musk said Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX have each formed SPECIAL COMMITTEES to discuss a potential merger, while indicating any deal remains uncertain. The question came from shareholders, who were invited to submit topics ahead of the call and upvoted this one heavily.
• 🧾 What a special committee actually is: a group of independent directors appointed to evaluate a transaction on behalf of shareholders who aren't on both sides of it. They exist precisely BECAUSE one person controlling both companies creates a conflict, so the committee's job is to protect minority investors. Forming them is a genuine procedural step, not a press release.
• ⚖️ What it is not: an agreement, a price, a structure or a timetable. Deals explored by committees frequently never happen, and the ones that do can take many months. Treat this as a live possibility with real governance machinery behind it, nothing more.
• 📰 Why the market cares so much: it would combine a carmaker in the middle of its own transition with a satellite-and-AI business growing at triple digits, a speculation that was already circulating when Tesla unveiled its latest car. Tesla's own results land this week, so expect the question to be asked again within days.
• 🧭 The investor's posture: if you hold either stock, the right response to merger news is to understand your own position's terms, not to guess the outcome. Merger arbitrage is a professional discipline with its own risks, and "two committees have been formed" is the earliest possible stage of a long process.

The Teachable: What a Lockup Expiry Does

SpaceX's own share price has already taught one of the most useful lessons in new listings, and it happened in August.

• 🔒 What a lockup is: when a company lists, existing owners, founders, staff and early investors, usually agree not to sell their shares for a set period, often around 90 to 180 days. Without it, the flood of selling would overwhelm the new market.
• 🌊 What happens when it lifts: suddenly a great many more shares can trade. In SpaceX's case, more than 900 million additional shares became available around early August, and the stock touched $104.83, well below its $135 IPO price.
• 🧠 Why this matters for every IPO you'll ever consider: a falling price around a lockup expiry is often about SUPPLY, not about the business deteriorating. Equally, a strong debut can flatter a stock while most of its shares are still locked away. Knowing the lockup calendar tells you when the real float arrives.
• 📚 The pattern to carry forward: combine this with the other IPO lessons of the season, that heavy oversubscription measures demand rather than destiny, and that filed does not mean listed. Together they are a decent starter kit for judging any new listing, and our guide to reading an earnings report covers what to check once the company starts reporting.

The Honest Catch

• 💸 The spending is staggering and rising: fourth-quarter capital expenditure guidance was raised to $35-40 billion to accelerate compute infrastructure. Trailing twelve-month figures show deeply negative cash generation, and earlier in the year roughly $28.5 billion of first-half capital spending and around $25 billion of negative first-half free cash flow were disclosed. One profitable quarter does not settle that.
• 📐 The valuation is contested: at roughly $1.9-2.0 trillion the company is priced for the AI and connectivity story to keep compounding. At least one independent research house has published a sum-of-the-parts estimate materially below the market price (their analysis, not ours), while a one-year analyst target above $200 also circulates. Wide disagreement is the honest state of play.
• 🗳️ Control is concentrated: roughly 82% of voting power sits with one person. If you buy the shares you are backing a controlling founder's judgement, including on whether to merge the company with another one he controls.
• 🚀 The famous business is the slow one: launch revenue grew only slightly, so the investment case now rests on satellite subscriptions and AI compute, both competitive markets requiring continuous capital.
• ⚖️ And the merger could cut either way: it could create an extraordinary combination, or distract two companies in the middle of their own transitions. Nothing is agreed, and investors who hold either stock should be watching governance disclosures, not rumours. SPCX and TSLA are examples to research, not recommendations.

What It Means for You

• 🔍 Read the segments, not the brand. The name on the rocket is not where the money is made, and that is true of many famous companies.
• 📅 Mark the lockup and reporting calendar for any new listing you follow; supply events move prices as much as results do.
• 🤝 Treat merger headlines as process, not outcome. Committees formed, terms agreed, shareholder votes and regulatory clearance are four very different stages.
• 🧺 Check what you already own: SpaceX joined major indices shortly after listing, so broad index funds may already give you exposure without a single-stock decision.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is SpaceX publicly traded?

Yes. SpaceX listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX on 12 June 2026, priced at $135 per share, raising roughly $86 billion in what is recorded as the largest initial public offering to date. This is general information, not advice.

How did SpaceX perform in Q3 2026?

Revenue was $14.58 billion, up about 161% year on year and ahead of expectations near $12.7-13 billion, with net income of $4.4 billion compared with a $1.05 billion loss a year earlier, its first quarterly profit as a public company. Adjusted EBITDA rose about 306% to $8.8 billion. Shares rose roughly 6.6% in after-hours trading. This is general information, not advice.

Are Tesla and SpaceX merging?

Not as things stand. Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla and SpaceX have each formed special committees to discuss a potential merger, while saying any deal remains uncertain. A special committee is a group of independent directors appointed to assess a transaction on behalf of shareholders; its formation is a procedural step, not an agreement. This is general information, not advice.

Where does SpaceX make its money?

In the third quarter of 2026, launch generated $1.77 billion of revenue, roughly flat year on year, while the connectivity business (Starlink, around 13.6 million subscribers) saw operating income roughly double to $2.37 billion and the AI and compute business swung to a $431 million operating profit. This is general information, not advice.

Can I buy SpaceX shares from the UAE?

SpaceX trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX. On the Nemo.money app you can research and invest in eligible US-listed stocks and ETFs from $1 with zero commission (subject to availability, so check whether this particular stock is available), with uninvested cash earning 6% AER, paid daily in USD. SPCX is an example to research, not a recommendation, and your capital is at risk.

Final Thoughts: The Queue Is Shorter Than It Looks

For years, SpaceX was the answer to a question investors asked wistfully: what's the biggest company you can't buy? That sentence has an expiry date now, and it expired in June.

What the market got in exchange is more complicated than the mythology suggested. The rockets are the smallest growth story in the group. The money is in satellite subscriptions and, increasingly, in computing power, funded by capital spending that would make most companies dizzy. Tuesday brought the first profit since listing and a merger conversation with another Musk company attached to it, which is either the most exciting corporate story of the decade or the most complicated one, depending on the day.

For most readers the practical takeaway isn't about this stock at all. It's that the gap between "private and unbuyable" and "listed and ordinary" can close very suddenly, and when it does, the mythology arrives on the stock exchange with a balance sheet attached. Read the segments. Check the lockups. Watch the cash. The romance of a company and the economics of its shares are two different things, and only one of them shows up in your account.

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Terms and conditions apply. This is not investment advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Your capital is at risk. See website for Risk Disclosure. Exinity ME Ltd (https://nemo.money) is regulated by ADGM's Financial Services Regulatory Authority.

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