Elon Musk’s SpaceX reports losses but less than expected

play Live Sign upShow navigation menuNavigation menuNewsShow more news sectionsAfricaAsiaUS & CanadaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle EastExplainedSportOpinionVideoMoreShow more sectionsFeaturesEconomyHuman RightsClimate CrisisInvestigationsInteractivesIn PicturesScience & TechnologyPodcastsTravelSponsored Contentplay Live Click here to searchsearchSign upEconomy|SpaceElon Musk’s SpaceX reports losses but less than expectedRevenue was up more than 90 percent from the same period a year ago, beating analyst expectations. xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoWhen SpaceX debuted on public markets earlier this year, it was the largest stock market debut in history [File: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images via AFP]By Al Jazeera Staff, AP and ReutersPublished On 4 Aug 20264 Aug 2026SpaceX reported a loss of more than half a billion dollars in its first quarterly statement as a public company, but the loss was less than Wall Street expected and revenue soared. On Tuesday, the company run by Elon Musk reported a loss of $541m, or 9 cents per share, in the three months through June, less than half what financial analysts had expected. Revenue jumped to $7.8bn, up more than 90 percent from the year-earlier period, beating analyst expectations. LSEG had forecast revenue growth of more than $6.9bn, and Bloomberg analysts had forecast $6.8bn. The Starbase, Texas-based giant ended the second quarter with $100bn in cash, according to United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The company touted several achievements in the quarter, including $6bn in new US government contracts for Starshield, its national security-centric satellite system, and two successful launches of its Starship V3 in the last 90 days. Starlink and SpaceX’s broader connectivity operations remain the company’s primary financial engine, underpinning Musk’s push to build an AI-first business that extends beyond renting compute capacity to developing frontier models, consumer and enterprise software, and, eventually, data centres in space. The company’s satellite-internet unit has continued to expand its global subscriber base, aided by launches of additional satellites and a growing range of consumer, enterprise, aviation, maritime and government services. Investors are watching whether SpaceX can maintain growth while improving the economics of its network, particularly as it spends heavily to expand coverage, increase capacity and develop direct-to-device mobile services. The company said it spent $18.37bn on Starlink and Starship expansion efforts, in addition to building out its AI infrastructure. Musk said the company expects its “Starmind” AI satellites to be launched next year. In its AI business, the tech giant had an operating loss of $1.2bn, as the company also released its most powerful Grok model yet. This comes as the company faces lawsuits around the globe for Grok being used to generate sexualised images of people without their consent. Separately, SpaceX said it had partnered with Nvidia to use its chips in the Starmind AI1 orbital compute satellites. When SpaceX debuted on public markets earlier this year, it was the largest stock market debut in history, cementing Musk as the world’s first trillionaire. However, it was a short-lived title because of a sell-off in the broader AI sector and on investor worries that Musk had oversold them on the company’s future prospects for space travel and colonisation, among other issues. The company’s stock has tumbled 8 percent since its IPO. SpaceX surged on Tuesday trading. It finished the day up 9.4 percent, but has since tumbled in after-hours trading and was down 7.2 percent since the market close. Advertisement AboutAboutShow moreAbout UsCode of EthicsTerms and ConditionsEU/EEA Regulatory NoticePrivacy PolicyCookie PolicyCookie PreferencesAccessibility StatementSitemapWork for usConnectConnectShow moreContact UsUser Accounts HelpAdvertise with usStay ConnectedNewslettersChannel FinderTV SchedulePodcastsSubmit a TipPaid Partner ContentOur ChannelsOur ChannelsShow moreAl Jazeera ArabicAl Jazeera EnglishAl Jazeera Investigative UnitAl Jazeera MubasherAl Jazeera DocumentaryAl Jazeera BalkansAJ+Our NetworkOur NetworkShow moreAl Jazeera Centre for StudiesAl Jazeera Media InstituteLearn ArabicAl Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human RightsAl Jazeera ForumAl Jazeera Hotel PartnersFollow Al Jazeera English: