SpaceX’s first earnings call as a publicly traded company delivered signs that its artificial intelligence infrastructure is generating revenue faster than expected. Investors remained unconvinced, however, as the scale of spending raised fresh questions about how long the company’s profitable Starlink business must support its AI expansion.
SpaceX shares fell 9% in premarket trading on August 5, pushing the stock further below its $135 initial public offering price less than two months after its market debut.
AI Revenue Triples as Spending Reaches $15.8 Billion
Reuters reported that SpaceX generated $2.6 billion in second-quarter AI revenue, more than three times the amount recorded a year earlier, although the business remained unprofitable on an operating basis.
The revenue growth was accompanied by far greater investment. SpaceX spent $18.4 billion on capital projects during the quarter, including $15.8 billion devoted to AI infrastructure. That total represented approximately one-fifth of the $85.7 billion raised through its June IPO.
The New York Post had earlier identified heavy AI spending as the central issue facing SpaceX’s first public earnings report, noting investor concern over Elon Musk’s ambition to develop AI data centers in space.
CFO Says New Computing Investments Pay Back Quickly
SpaceX executives argued that the early economics of the AI business justify continued expansion.
Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen said new capital deployed for computing was producing a payback period of less than one year. He also disclosed that SpaceX had signed an additional $6.7 billion in cloud-computing contracts since the second quarter ended.
Johnsen expects capital spending during the next two quarters to remain close to second-quarter levels as SpaceX expands its computing infrastructure, increases Starship production and develops its next generation of Starlink satellites.
The company also expects to finish 2026 with more than two gigawatts of computing capacity. Management believes strong demand could eventually allow the AI division to finance its own growth instead of continuing to depend heavily on Starlink’s cash generation.
Starlink Remains SpaceX’s Financial Anchor
The New York Post reported before the results that Starlink accounted for approximately 60% of SpaceX’s total revenue in 2025 and remained the company’s principal profitable operation. The report said analysts had expected the satellite-internet division to deliver about $1.42 billion in operating profit for the quarter.
That dependence explains why investors are examining whether Starlink’s earnings can continue supporting several expensive projects at once. SpaceX is simultaneously funding AI infrastructure, the Starship launch system and a larger satellite network.
Short interest in SpaceX increased from 23.3 million shares to 219.3 million within a month, illustrating the scale of investor skepticism before the earnings announcement.
Investors Demand Proof That Revenue Can Catch Up
David Wagner of Aptus Capital Advisors shared that Musk’s projections were aggressive but not impossible, provided SpaceX delivers nearly flawless execution.
Drew Cupps of Polen Capital said the relationship between spending and revenue was unsustainable unless capital expenditure declines or income increases dramatically.
SpaceX has demonstrated that customers are willing to purchase its computing capacity. The falling share price shows that investors want stronger evidence that those early contracts can grow quickly enough to justify an AI expansion consuming tens of billions of dollars.
