Updated
Updated · CNBC · Aug 5
SpaceX Shares Drop 10% After $18.4 Billion AI Spending Surge
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Aug 5

SpaceX Shares Drop 10% After $18.4 Billion AI Spending Surge

3 articles · Updated · CNBC · Aug 5

Summary

  • More than 10% of SpaceX's market value was wiped out in premarket trading after its first public earnings report showed second-quarter capital spending jumped sixfold to $18.4 billion.
  • That selloff came despite an expectation-beating quarter, with narrowed losses and Musk pulling forward his $1 trillion annual revenue target to 2030 from 2031.
  • Most of the spending is going into AI infrastructure, where SpaceX is building Nvidia-powered compute capacity to rent out as a cloud alternative even as its own models trail OpenAI and Anthropic.
  • CFO Bret Johnsen said the AI compute investments are being deployed efficiently, claiming less than a one-year payback, but investors remain focused on how quickly growth can offset rising costs.
  • Thursday's insider lock-up expiry could add another test for the stock, which closed just above $125 on Tuesday—below its $135 IPO price and far from its post-listing peak above $200.

Insights

Why are space stocks crashing despite historic milestones like Starship's success and billion-dollar defense contracts?
Are public markets fundamentally broken for funding the massive, long-term capital needs of space exploration?
Could the rumored 2027 Tesla-SpaceX mega-merger be the ultimate lifeline for a sector drowning in debt?