SpaceX Q2 2026 Earnings: Revenue Beats on Starlink Growth, Capex Spike Rattles Investors
SpaceX beat revenue and earnings expectations on explosive Starlink subscriber growth, but a sharp jump in spending on Starship and satellites overshadowed the beat, sending shares lower after hours.
| Q2 2026 | Reported | Expected | Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| EPS | -$0.09 | -$0.26 | +65.8% |
| Revenue | $7.81B | $7.07B | +10.5% |
Key takeaways
- Revenue nearly doubled year-over-year to $7.8 billion, well above the roughly $7.1 billion analysts expected, and the per-share loss of $0.09 was much smaller than the $0.26 loss expected — both beats were driven mainly by fast growth at Starlink.
- Starlink (reported as the “Connectivity” segment) remained the biggest earnings driver, bringing in $4.29 billion and adding 1.7 million subscribers in just three months to reach 12 million total — showing the satellite internet business is scaling quickly.
- The rocket-launch business (“Space” segment) grew a more modest 29% to $962 million, meaning Starlink internet subscriptions, not launches, are now the company’s main growth engine.
- Adjusted operating cash profit (EBITDA) roughly tripled to $3.5 billion, nearly double what analysts expected — even though the company’s trailing operating and net margins are still negative, this shows the underlying business is throwing off far more cash than the accounting loss alone suggests, since the loss includes heavy, one-time-style investment costs.
- Despite the beat, shares fell about 8-9% in after-hours trading because quarterly capital spending jumped to $18.4 billion, up sharply from $10.1 billion the prior quarter — investors reacted to the pace of spending on Starship and satellite buildout rather than to the results themselves.
- For the first time in its 24-year history, SpaceX gave formal full-year financial guidance, raising its 2026 revenue outlook by roughly $500 million above what analysts had penciled in.
- Management said the company is on pace to reach $100 billion in annualized recurring revenue by the end of the year, a marker of confidence in Starlink’s continued subscriber growth.
- The average amount each Starlink customer pays per month has fallen from about $99 in 2023 to roughly $66 in early 2026 as SpaceX expanded into lower-income international markets; the company introduced a new $10 monthly equipment fee and raised some subscription prices in June to help offset that decline.
Q2 2026 in context
| Metric | Jun 2026 | Jun 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $7.8B | $4.1B | +91.9% |
| Net income | -$541M | -$1.0B | +46.3% |
| Free cash flow | -$25.0B | -$6.6B | -278.1% |
| Diluted EPS | -$0.09 | -$0.34 | +73.5% |
| Gross margin | 55.3% | 43.9% | +11.3 pts |
| Operating margin | -1.8% | -23.8% | +22.0 pts |
| Net margin | -6.9% | -24.8% | +17.8 pts |
Figures for the quarter ended Jun 2026 and the quarter ended Jun 2025, as reported to the SEC.
How the stock took it
SpaceX closed at $114.53 on Aug 3, 2026, the last session before the report, and at $108.27 on Aug 5, 2026, the first session after it — -5.5% across the report.
Closes from the market's daily record. Each figure spans the report date — from the last session that closed before it to the first that closed after — because a company may report before the open or after the close.
Fundamentals
| Metric | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 50.8% | Trailing 12 months |
| Operating margin | -19.9% | Trailing 12 months |
| Net profit margin | -31.3% | Trailing 12 months |
| Pretax margin | -28.9% | Trailing 12 months |
| EPS | -$0.75 | Trailing 12 months |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 91.9% | Latest quarter |
| Return on equity | -11.9% | Latest fiscal year |
Sources: company report · earnings call · Yahoo Finance / CNBC · Motley Fool / Not a Tesla App