Trending
NEW YORK (AP) -- SpaceX reported a smaller loss than Wall Street expected along with a surge in revenue in its first quarterly report as a public company as it sharply boosted spending, particularly on artificial intelligence.
The company run by Elon Musk posted a loss of $541 million, or 9 cents per share, in the three months through June, less than half what financial analysts had forecast. Revenue jumped to $7.8 billion, up more than 90% from the year-earlier period.
A standout in the quarter was the company's big cash source, its "connectivity" business, with revenue jumping 66% from a year earlier as the number of subscribers to its Starlink satellite communications service doubled to 12 million.
"It's not out of the question that at some point, Starlink will deliver a majority of the world's internet," Musk said in call with analysts.
SpaceX stock rose 9% in regular trading Tuesday, but gave most of the gain back after hours. The rocket, satellite and AI company's stock has fallen by roughly half since peaking in June shortly after an initial public offering that briefly made Musk the world's first trillionaire.
Investors are worried Musk has oversold them on the company's future prospects for space travel and its AI chatbot Grok. They're also bracing for volatile trading as some company insiders get the opportunity to sell shares after the expiration of what's known as a lockup provision later in the week.
Another area of concern is SpaceX spending on infrastructure and R&D, which jumped to $18 billion from less than $3 billion a year ago. The company's chief financial officer, Bret Johnsen, said to expect similar capital expenditures for the next two quarters.