Why is “Space Exploration Technologies Corp.” trending?
SpaceX shares jump nearly 8% after first quarterly results
SpaceX shares rose nearly 8% on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, after the company released its quarterly results. The gain helped lift the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq as investors returned to AI-related tech stocks. Elon Musk, who also runs Tesla, said both companies have set up special committees to discuss a possible merger.
The company's third-quarter numbers came out a day earlier, on Tuesday, October 20. SpaceX brought in about $14.6 billion in revenue, and its AI business, which now makes up roughly 52% of income, was more profitable than investors had expected. That unit includes data centers, the Grok chatbot and the recently acquired Cursor coding tool. Capital spending reached $19.6 billion, and the company said it expects to spend $35 billion to $40 billion more in the fourth quarter. Musk also said the next Starship test flight, planned for November, will try to recover both the booster and the upper stage. Starlink's subscriber count reached 13.6 million. The company returned to a net profit, though the filing details were not fully covered in the summary available to us.
Key facts
- SpaceX shares rose nearly 8% on October 21, 2026, after quarterly results
- Third-quarter revenue was about $14.6 billion, with AI making up about 52% of income
- Capital spending was $19.6 billion, with $35 billion to $40 billion planned for the fourth quarter
- Elon Musk said SpaceX and Tesla formed committees to discuss a potential merger
- The next Starship test flight is expected in November
What we don't know yet
It is not yet clear what terms, if any, a possible SpaceX and Tesla merger would involve.
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Trend data
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. started trending in the US on Oct 24, 9:40 AM EDT, reaching about 200+ Google searches. 3 news outlets covered it in our feed, including WSJ, Yahoo Finance, TechCrunch. The earliest report we found came from WSJ at Oct 24, 9:40 AM EDT.
What the headlines say
- WSJSpaceX, Anthropic and Nvidia Help Snap Tech Stocks Out of Their Recent Malaise
- Yahoo FinanceStock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq rise as tech rallies, SpaceX stock surges nearly 8%
- TechCrunchSpaceX’s AI business is beating expectations
How the story unfolded
- — WSJ: SpaceX, Anthropic and Nvidia Help Snap Tech Stocks Out of Their Recent Malaise
- — Yahoo Finance: Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq rise as tech rallies, SpaceX stock surges nearly 8%
- — TechCrunch: SpaceX’s AI business is beating expectations