Oct 20, 2026 earnings call — Starship milestone and massive Super Intelligence build-out
SpaceX reported revenues of $14.6 billion for Q3 2026, up 161% year-over-year.
Revenue $14.6B (est $12.9B) · EPS $0.35 (est $0.13) · Next-quarter revenue outlook $33.0B–$37.0B
Key quotes
"Starship made it to orbit for the first time and deployed operational Starlink V3 satellites."
"I would be surprised if we brought on less than 13 gigawatts of compute by the end of next year."
"Starlink is now contracted for roughly 12,000 planes, almost 1/4 of the available aircraft, and we're expanding quickly with both new and existing customers."
Analyst Q&A 5
Terafab timing and fab plans
Q (Adam Jonas · Morgan Stanley): He asked if SpaceX has ordered EUV machines and when deliveries would arrive. He also asked where SpaceX would improve chip fabs and supply chain if they build their own.
A: They expect a first test chip to be functional around May or June next year at the research fab in Austin. Their aspiration is to reach volume production around Q3 of '28 at Terafab at Gibbons Creek, but these are aggressive dates and they will not discuss technical breakthroughs on the call.
"And we're aiming to -- our aspiration is to reach volume production around Q3 of '28 at Terafab at Gibbons Creek, the main Terafab location." — Elon Musk
Power, cooling limits and funding
Q (Douglas Anmuth · JPMorgan): He asked how they are solving power, cooling and infrastructure constraints and what makes them confident about 13 gigawatts by year end. He also asked Bret about funding needs for that capacity build.
A: They expect about 3 gigawatts to be done in the next few months and are turning on many GPUs now, with deployment accelerating next year. Elon said they have a plan that could add 20 gigawatts incremental (about 23 total) but is "highly confident of 10" incremental next year, implying 13 total; Bret said SpaceX is investment grade with a strong balance sheet, multiple debt pools, short payback periods and operational cash flow to help fund growth.
"Like I said, at this point, I would say I feel highly confident of 10 gigawatts incremental next year, so 13 total." — Elon Musk
Possible SpaceX–Tesla merger
Q (Xin Yu · Deutsche Bank): He asked the pros and cons of a potential merger with Tesla and what roadblocks would need to be addressed before doing it.
A: Both companies formed special committees of independent directors to discuss the idea, and Elon is excluded from those committee discussions because of conflicts. He said a merger is not certain, it could be a good idea, and that Tesla would need support from shareholders including a 50% vote of all shares; the special committees have not agreed on any terms.
"I can just say at this point that the special committees have not reached agreement on the terms of any transaction." — Elon Musk
Starlink Mobile: satellite vs terrestrial
Q (Kutgun Maral · Evercore): He asked what roles the satellite and terrestrial parts of Starlink Mobile will play, how traffic will split, and whether focus is on retail wireless or AI-related connectivity opportunities.
A: Gwynne said most mobile connectivity is WiFi (about 85% to 93%) and Starlink Broadband already handles much WiFi. She said the S-band should carry the majority of mobile traffic while low-band 800 megahertz will penetrate buildings and be critical, and they will also use smaller radios on homes, businesses and towers; Elon added they see a clear path to several hundred billion dollars a year in connectivity revenue but will present more detail elsewhere.
"As far as the mix goes, I think we expect that the S-band spectrum will provide the majority." — Gwynne Shotwell
Compute split: internal vs customer use
Q (Eric Sheridan · Goldman Sachs): He asked how SpaceX will balance compute between internal needs (Cursor, Grok) and renting to external cloud customers, and what monetization might look like in the next 12 to 18 months.
A: Elon said the allocation will change month to month but their goal is roughly a 50-50 split between internal use and renting to others, though it could move 60-40 either way. They plan to rent at spot-market rates, expect value per watt to rise as models improve, see strong demand with contracts renewing at higher dollars per watt, and said a six-month payback period next year is not impossible.
"Our goal is to kind of split it 50-50, more or less, where half of the compute is used internally and half of it is rented to others." — Elon Musk